Clinical, Morphological, and Molecular Characterization of Penicilliumcanissp. nov., Isolated from a Dog with Osteomyelitis

Abstract

f Infections caused by Penicillium species are rare in dogs, and the prognosis in these cases is poor. An unknown species of Penicillium was isolated from a bone lesion in a young dog with osteomyelitis of the right ilium. Extensive diagnostic evaluation did not reveal evidence of dissemination. Resolution of lameness and clinical stability of disease were achieved with intravenous phospholipid-complexed amphotericin B initially, followed by long-term combination therapy with terbinafine and ketoconazole. A detailed morphological and molecular characterization of the mold was undertaken. Sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer revealed the isolate to be closely related to Penicillium menonorum and Penicillium pimiteouiense. Additional sequence analysis of ␤-tubulin, calmodulin, minichromosome maintenance factor, DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and prerRNA processing protein revealed the isolate to be a novel species; the name Penicillium canis sp. nov. is proposed. Morphologically, smooth, ovoid conidia, a greenish gray colony color, slow growth on all media, and a failure to form ascomata distinguish this species from closely related Penicillium species.

A phylogenetic revision of Penicillium sect. Exilicaulis, including nine new species from fynbos in South Africa

“…2002 , Unoura et al 2011 ). Penicillium pimiteouiense and P. canis were respectively isolated from polycystic kidney cell structures ( Peterson et a l. 1999 ) and a dog suffering with osteomyelitis ( Langlois et al 2014 ), and could be significant to animal health. Another medical example is P. decumbens, commonly reported from indoor air ( Samson et al .…”

“…Section Exilicaulis has received some taxonomic attention in recent years, including the introduction of new species ( Langlois et al 2014 , Peterson et al 1999 , 2011 ), but more importantly species and their metabolites were shown to be toxic and to affect human health ( Kremer et al . 1989 , Lyratzopoulos et al 2002 , McMullin et al .…”

“…2011 , 2014 , Peterson et a l. 2011 , Rivera & Seifert 2011 , Visagie et al 2013 ). This concept was also applied in section Exilicaulis , but the focus was mostly on a subset of species from the P. parvum- clade ( Langlois et al . 2014 , Peterson et al 1999 , 2011 ) and the P. citreonigrum complex ( Serra et al 2008 ), but did not include all species belonging to these clades.…”

Identification and Antifungal Susceptibility of Penicillium-Like Fungi from Clinical Samples in the United States

“…However, these antifungals are not widely used for treating invasive infections by these fungi (41). Terbinafine was chosen as a good alternative for long-term maintenance therapy for treatment of an infection associated with one isolate from a dog with osteomyelitis (11). In the present study, AMB also had intermediate antifungal activity, agreeing with previous studies (42,43); however, the clinical experience reported in two cases of infections by species within this group revealed that the patients did not respond to this drug (8).…”

“…There are very few data on animal infections by Penicillium species, and the few cases reported have been restricted to systemic diseases and fungal osteomyelitis in dogs. Penicillium brevicompactum, P. purpurogenum, and, recently, P. canis have also been reported in fungal infections in dogs (10)(11)(12). Antifungal susceptibility data for clinically available antifungal agents and treatment options for infections caused by Penicillium species are also poorly understood, apart from data published for T. marneffei (13).…”