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.