PATHOGENS

• Malassezia furfur (formerly Pityrosporum) is the pathogen in most cases.
  
• Malassezia globosa
• Malassezia symphodialis
• Malassezia silffiae
• Growth of these yeasts in cultures requires special media.
  • Sabouraud dextrose agar overlaid with olive oil is required for incubation at 30°C.
    • Other strategies include:
      • Modified Leeming and Notham agar (Kaneko et al.2007)
      • Modified Dixon’s agar
      • CHROMagar Malassezia medium is commercially available and isolates the most common Malassezia species.
  • Colonies are often difficult to distinguish in the oil layer.