Abstract
Crossing of Trichophyton rubrum with Arthroderma simii yielded many ascomata around the fluffy T. rubrum colonies. One of the 35 supposed ascospores isolated from matured ascoma was shown to be a hybrid of the two species. Hybrids were observed within the genotypes of four different genes, i.e., rRNA, actin, DNA topoisomerase II and cytochrome b. These results strongly suggest that T. rubrum is not an asexual or clonal species.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 15 April 2010.