JOURNAL ARTICLE SUMMARY (MYCOLOGY)

Characterization of new strains of Hortaea werneckii isolated from

salt marshes of Egypt

Elsayed, A., et. al. (2016). Egyptian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 3(4), 350-356.

3 Matthew Meddic Baluyot

MCRBIO 2

Faculty of Pharmacy

University of Santo Tomas

14 June 2019
 Characterization of new strains of Hortaea werneckii isolated from salt marshes
of Egypt

Three new molecular strain additions of Hortaea werneckii were found in the salt marshes of Egypt.
These newly identified strains were not identified in the past; thus, the researchers molecularly,
biochemically, and morphologically characterized these new strains to compare and differentiate them
to known strains of the same fungus.

The collection of marine samples was located north of Cairo in west of Gamasa on Damietta road, a
coastal region beside the Mediterranean Sea. Samples from off shore salt marshes were stored in glass
sealed jars. The samples underwent isolation, molecular identification, biochemical characterization,
and microscopic characterization in order to validify the identity of the organism. On a molecular level,
the researchers extracted the fungal DNA with a FastDNA® spin kit to obtain the strains’ phylogenetic
position. Biochemical characterizations were obtained by the use of Malt Extract Agar Media (MEA),
Potato Dextrose Agar Media (PDA), and modified Yeast Extract Peptone Dextrose Media (YPD). A
number of enzyme tests (i.e. Catalase test, Urease test, Lipase test, Protease test, Amylase test, and
Cellulase test) were performed as well. Microscopic characteristics were also observed to determine the
morphology of the strains

Three strains of Hortaea werneckii (EGYNDA08, EGYNDA16, and EGYNDA90) were isolated in a span of
months via incubation. On a molecular level, the strains’ position in the phylogenetic tree was placed
and found two of the strains (i.e. EGYNDA16, and EGYNDA90) had a high sequence identity with a
previous strain isolated in Spain. Biochemical characterizations showed a growth of EGYNDA08 on both
MEA and YPD media; EGYNDA16 and EGYNDA90 also grew on MEA but both hardly grew on YPD media.
Enzyme tests (i.e. Catalase test, Urease test, Lipase test, Protease test, Amylase test, and Cellulase test)
showed consistent results throughout the three strains as shown in pictures. Microscopic characteristics
showed morphological differences amongst the three strains also as shown in pictures.

The researchers concluded the validity of the discovery of three new strains of H. werneckii by
identifying the phenotypic characteristics of the known black yeast. As to the researchers’ knowledge,
this is the first time to have isolated this organism in Egypt.

The research paper gave a good amount of information regarding the organism, there was only one
inconsistency that was noticed both in the methods and results: in the methods they mentioned 3
nutritional agars, with the results they only mentioned 2 nutritional agars, disregarding the result of the
third agar mentioned in the methods, but other than that the research paper did give out a plethora of
information regarding the organism. The methods performed were routine in identifying the species
which they made sure that that was the specie that they were identifying by means of isolation,
identification, and characterization. It was the very first time to identify the species in Egypt, thus
resulting to a probability of Egyptians contacting Tinea nigra when exposed to brackish water like salt
marshes—Awareness of possible exposure to the organism is noted by the Journal critique. As stated
from the last sentence of the research, pleomorphic characterization and adaptation mechanism would
be the next step after discovering the three new isolate strains of H. werneckii. The journal solely
focused on the discovery (i.e. molecular, biochemical, and morphology) of the strains, clinical
manifestation to man of the new strains is an interest in future researches.
Reference

Elsayed, A., et. al. (2016). Egyptian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 3(4), 350-356.

Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2314808X16300550