<i>Paracoccidioides</i> Species Circulating in the Endemic Area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Updates into Their Genetic Diversity
2025
Beatriz da Silva Motta | Fernando Almeida-Silva | Marcus de Melo Teixeira | Andréa Reis Bernardes-Engemann | Rodrigo Almeida-Paes | Priscila Marques de Macedo | Rosely Maria Zancopé-Oliveira
Paracoccidiodomycosis (PCM) is the most important systemic mycosis in Brazil, and is usually associated with rural work. PCM is caused by inhalation of infective propagules of thermodimorphic fungi from the genus <i>Paracoccidioides</i>. In the past, it was believed that <i>Paracoccidioides brasiliensis</i> was the single species responsible for PCM cases. However, recent advances in molecular methods allowed the description of several new species, using phylogenetic concordance as the gold standard. Aside from <i>P. brasiliensis sensu stricto</i>, <i>Paracoccidioides americana</i> is also endemic in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate intraspecific genetic variability of <i>Paracoccidioides</i> isolates from patients diagnosed with PCM at a reference center for endemic mycoses in Rio de Janeiro state, from 2015 to 2021. Among the sixteen retrieved isolates, three (18.75%) were identified as <i>P. americana</i> and thirteen (81.25%) as <i>P. brasiliensis sensu stricto</i>. No intraspecific genetic variation was observed by the M-13 primer in <i>P. americana</i> isolates from this geographic region. However, <i>P. brasiliensis</i> sensu stricto isolates were clustered into two distinct molecular profiles, despite being grouped in a single clade in the phylogenetic tree after partial sequencing of <i>arf</i> and <i>gp43</i> genes. The results suggest a single <i>P. americana</i> lineage and two <i>P. brasiliensis</i> populations causing PCM in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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