Abstract
A survey was conducted from1999 to 2003 as part of a microbial biodiversity study on geophilic and keratinophilic fungi in central India. Among the keratinophilic fungi recovered were 82 isolates belonging to the dermatophyte genus Microsporum. Species were provisionally identified by morphology and confirmed by PCR-RFLP and sequencing of the ITS regions of rDNA. Microsporum persicolor appeared to be preponderant in central Indian soils, outnumbering the common geophilic species of Microsporum fulvum and Microsporum gypseum. Three dinucleotide microsatellite markers were developed and their use revealed immense intraspecific variation among Indian populations of M. persicolor which would indicate that this species was not recently introduced into India. No correlation was established between the genotypes and the geographical location or the habitat of the isolates.