Abstract
The main goal of the present study was to isolate and identify keratinophilic fungi and related dermatophytes in different soil of Hyderabad. Soil of school playground, public parks, agricultural area and hospitals, which are frequently visited by children, adults and occupational workers, were chosen for the study. A total of 112 soil samples of various habitats were screened for the revalence of these fungi by hair-baiting technique, of which 99 samples showed positive growth on hair baits. Public parks showed maximum number of positive samples (97%) followed by school playgrounds (88%), agricultural soils (84%) and hospitals (78%) respectively. Our findings revealed the presence of 242 fungal isolates from soils of various habitats. These isolates represented 30 species of 16 genera, predominated by six Chrysopsorium species followed by four species of Trichophyton and three species of Microsporum and Aspergillus each, besides a single species representing the genera Alternaria, Aphanoascus, Bipolaris, Fusarium, Cladosporium, Ctenomyces, Geotrichum, Malabranchea, Mucor, Rhizopus, Paecilomyces, Penicillium and Scopulariopsis. The high prevalence of keratinophilic fungi along with dermatophytes are important bioindicators of soil contamination with keratin remnants. Most of these fungi are potential pathogens causing mycoses and are a threat to all those individuals visiting or working in such environments. To our knowledge, this appears to be the first report concerning the isolation of keratinophilic fungi from Hyderabad soils.