Tinea versicolor

PATHOGENS

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

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Last updated: October 21, 2019