High genetic diversity and poor in vitro response to antifungals of clinical strains of Fusarium oxysporum.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the genetic variability of clinical isolates morphologically identified as Fusarium oxysporum and to assess if there are differences in antifungal susceptibility among the possible genetic clades obtained. METHODS Twenty-eight isolates were molecularly characterized by sequence analysis of the elongation factor 1alpha gene. The antifungal susceptibilities of these isolates to 11 antifungal drugs were tested using a microdilution method. RESULTS and conclusions We obtained four different phylogenetic clades in the molecular study. Although all the antifungals tested showed poor activity against all the genetic clades, terbinafine showed the best results.