Misuse of the Name “ Trichophyton rosaceum ” for a Saprophytic Fusarium

Abstract

The name T. rosaceum is erroneously used in laboratories concerned with testing fungicides to be used against dermatophytosis of the foot. Of 12 fungi labeled "T. rosaceum" received from various laboratories, 10 were strains of Fusarium, 1 was T. mentagrophytes, and 1 was apparently a Basidiomycete. Fusarium, a saprophytic fungus not etio-logically related to dermatophytosis, has been widely used as a test organism under the mistaken impression that it was a sp. of Trichophyton. It should be replaced for this purpose by a dermatophyte, but not by the true T. rosaceum Sab. 1910, which is not a suitable test fungus.