Trichophyton rubrum and T. violaceum are prevalent agents of human dermatophyte infections, the former being found on glabrous skin and nail, while the latter is confined to the scalp. The two species are phenotypically different but are highly similar phylogenetically. The taxonomy of dermatophytes is currently being reconsidered on the basis of molecular phylogeny. Molecular species definitions do not always coincide with existing concepts which are guided by ecological and clinical principles. In this article, we aim to bring phylogenetic and ecological data together in an attempt to develop new species concepts for anthropophilic dermatophytes. Focus is on the T. rubrum complex with analysis of rDNA ITS supplemented with LSU, TUB2, TEF3 and ribosomal protein L10 gene sequences. In order to explore genomic differences between T. rubrum and T. violaceum, one representative for both species was whole genome sequenced. Draft sequences were compared with currently available dermatophyte genomes. Potential virulence factors of adhesins and secreted proteases were predicted and compared phylogenetically. General phylogeny showed clear gaps between geophilic species of Arthroderma, but multilocus distances between species were often very small in the derived anthropophilic and zoophilic genus Trichophyton. Significant genome conservation between T. rubrum and T. violaceum was observed, with a high similarity at the nucleic acid level of 99.38 % identity. Trichophyton violaceum contains more paralogs than T. rubrum. About 30 adhesion genes were predicted among dermatophytes. Seventeen adhesins were common between T. rubrum and T. violaceum, while four were specific for the former and eight for the latter. Phylogenetic analysis of secreted proteases reveals considerable expansion and conservation among the analyzed species. Multilocus phylogeny and genome comparison of T. rubrum and T. violaceum underlined their close affinity. The possibility that they represent a single species exhibiting different phenotypes due to different localizations on the human body is discussed.

红毛癣菌和紫毛衣原体是人类皮肤癣菌感染的普遍病原，前者存在于无毛的皮肤和指甲上，而后者则局限于头皮。这两个物种在表型上不同，但在系统发育上高度相似。目前正在基于分子系统发育学重新考虑皮肤真菌的分类学。分子种类的定义并不总是与以生态和临床原理为指导的现有概念相吻合。在本文中，我们旨在将系统发育和生态学数据整合在一起，以尝试开发嗜人皮癣菌的新物种概念。重点是通过添加rSU，TUB2，TEF3的rDNA ITS分析来分析红曲霉和核糖体蛋白L10基因序列。为了探索红毛锥虫和紫毛锥虫之间的基因组差异，对这两种物种的一个代表进行了全基因组测序。将草稿序列与当前可获得的皮肤植物基因组进行了比较。粘附素和分泌的蛋白酶的潜在毒力因子进行了预测，并在系统发育上进行了比较。一般发展史表明的geophilic物种之间明显存在欠缺Arthroderma，但品种之间的距离多位经常在派生anthropophilic和zoophilic属非常小的毛癣菌。红毛锥虫和紫毛锥虫之间的重要基因组保守性观察到，在99.38％同一性的核酸水平上具有高度相似性。毛癣菌的旁系同源物比红锥虫多。预计在皮肤植物中约有30个粘附基因。T. rubrum和T. violaceum之间共有十七种粘附素，而前者是四种，后者是八种。分泌蛋白酶的系统发生分析表明，在所分析的物种之间有相当大的扩展和保守性。多位系统发育和基因组比较，红色毛癣菌和T.堇色强调了他们的亲密关系。由于它们在人体上的不同位置，它们代表一种物种表现出不同表型的可能性已得到讨论。