Epidermophyton floccosum is an anthropophilic dermatophyte

Dermatophyte

Dermatophytes are a common label for a group of three types of fungus that commonly causes skin disease in animals and humans. These anamorphic genera are: Microsporum, Epidermophyton and Trichophyton. There are about 40 species in these three genera...

 (preferring humans to other hosts) which can be found world-wide.

Taxonomy

The fungus was originally described by Carl Otto Harz in 1870, who named it Acrothecium floccosum. It was later renamed Blastotrichum floccosum, a name given to it in Rabenhort's Krytpogamen Flora, (1907), and finally as Epidermophyton floccosum by Ota and Langeron in 1923.

Description

The fungus is a moderate grower that reaches maturity after 10 days. The colonies

Colony (biology)

In biology, a colony reference to several individual organisms of the same species living closely together, usually for mutual benefit, such as stronger defense or the ability to attack bigger prey. Some insects live only in colonies...

 are usually grainy, have a suede

Suede

Suede is a type of leather with a napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, shirts, purses, furniture and other items. The term comes from the French "gants de Suède", which literally means "gloves of Sweden"....

-like texture, and may be olive, yellow, or yellow-brown in color. The central region is raised slightly. Fluffy white sterile

Sterility (physiology)

Sterility is the physiological inability to effect sexual reproduction in a living thing, members of whose kind have been produced sexually. The term may be used in reference to* types of organism, such as the mule, a sterile hybrid;...

 mycelia

Mycelium

thumb|right|Fungal myceliaMycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. The mass of hyphae is sometimes called shiro, especially within the fairy ring fungi. Fungal colonies composed of mycelia are found in soil and on or within many other...

 cover the colonies after several weeks. Epidermophyton floccosum contains an unusual lipid

Lipid

Lipids constitute a broad group of naturally occurring molecules that include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins , monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, phospholipids, and others...

 of unknown function, 1(3),2-diacylglyceryl-3(1)-O-4′-(N,N,N-trimethyl)homoserine. Two other dermatophytes Microsporum cookei and Trichophyton rubrum

Trichophyton rubrum

Trichophyton rubrum is a fungus that is the most common cause of athlete's foot, jock itch and ringworm. This fungus was first described by Malmsten in 1845....

do not contain this lipid. Microconidia are usually absent.

Pathology

The fungus is the only pathogen of the two species comprising genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Epidermophyton

Epidermophyton

Epidermophyton is a genus of fungus causing superficial and cutaneous mycoses, including E. floccosum, a cause of tinea corporis , tinea cruris , tinea pedis , and onychomycosis or tinea unguium, a fungal infection of the nail bed.-External links:**...

. Hosts

Host (biology)

In biology, a host is an organism that harbors a parasite, or a mutual or commensal symbiont, typically providing nourishment and shelter. In botany, a host plant is one that supplies food resources and substrate for certain insects or other fauna...

 of the fungi are humans, wild animals, and domestic animals. The fungi can cause tinea pedis, tinea cruris, tinea corporis

Tinea corporis

Tinea corporis is a superficial fungal infection of the arms and legs, especially on glabrous skin, however it may occur on any part of the body.-Symptoms:...

, and onychomycosis

Onychomycosis

Onychomycosis means fungal infection of the nail. It is the most common disease of the nails and constitutes about a half of all nail abnormalities....

. The infection spreads by contact, especially in gyms and showers. The infection can be stopped by bathing with soap and water and applying an appropriate fungicide

Fungicide

Fungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality and profit. Fungicides are used both in agriculture and to fight fungal infections in animals...

. A study of 900 patients afflicted with E. floccosum infection investigating the contagious aspects of the fungus was conducted in Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, from 1976 to 1997. The study found that fewer people were infected by E. floccosum than by other dermatophytes. The fungus may be transmitted between

Zoonosis

A zoonosis or zoonoseis any infectious disease that can be transmitted from non-human animals to humans or from humans to non-human animals . In a study of 1415 pathogens known to affect humans, 61% were zoonotic...

 humans and squirrels. The fungi can usually only infect the nonliving cornified layers of epidermis

Epidermis (zoology)

The Epidermis is an epithelium that covers the body of an eumetazoan . Eumetazoa have a cavity lined with a similar epithelium, the gastrodermis, which forms a boundary with the epidermis at the mouth.Sponges have no epithelium, and therefore no epidermis or gastrodermis...

. An invasive infection has, however, been recorded in an immunocompromised patient with Behçet's syndrome.