Searching for Penicillium marneffei in the soil of Qazvin city

Background: Penicillium marneffei is a dimorphic fungus that produces disseminated infections in immune-deficient people and AIDS patients. This fungus is endemic to Southeastern Asia with its reservoir in Southeast Asian bamboo rats. Also, it has been isolated from rats of a region in India. Objective: This study was conducted to search for Penicillium marneffei fungus in the soil of Qazvin city from the spring of 2007 to spring of 2008. Methods: Samples were taken from different locations of the city and cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar after preliminary processing in laboratory. A suspension from colonies suspected of penicillium marneffei species was prepared and injected into peritoneum of rats. Findings: Penicillium marneffei fungus was not found in soil of the city however, other fungi including Cladosporium spp., Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., Rhizopus spp., Alternaria spp., Mucor spp., Chrysosporium spp., Acremonium spp., Fusarium spp., Ulocladium spp., Drechselera spp., Scopulariopsis spp., and yeasts were cultured from the soil specimens. No Penicillium marneffei positive cultures were obtained from lung cultures of rats inhabiting the city. Conclusion: Although Penicillium marneffei fungus was not isolated from the city soil yet further researches on other locations of Iran are required to determine the presence or absence of this fungus.