Isolation of Keratinomyces ajelloi from Soils in Great Britain

Abstract

KARLING¹ first used keratinaceous materials for the isolation of keratinophilic chytrids from soil and water. Similar techniques for the isolation of other keratinophilic fungi from soil have since been devised by other workers. Thus, Mandels et al. ², Cooke³ and Ajello⁴ have also isolated Microsporum gypseum from various soil samples in the United States. Belgian soils examined by Vanbreuseghem⁵ yielded no known dermatophytes, but did reveal the presence of a keratinophilic fungus which Vanbreuseghem placed in a new genus, Keratinomyces, and gave the specific name of K. ajelloi. This organism was also isolated by Ajello⁴ from one sample of soil from Tennessee and two samples from Georgia, out of a total of 116 soils collected from different localities. In this communication K. ajelloi is recorded for the first time in Great Britain, having been isolated from sixteen out of nineteen soil samples collected in different localities.