English

Abstract

The wastewater in Bagru and Jharna area (Rajasthan) is rich in pathogenic and non-pathogenic keratinophilic fungi including dermatophytes. Most of the fungal isolates from the waste water have already been reported as dermatophytes causing infections of skin, scalps or hair. This study deals with the isolation and characterization of keratinophilic fungi from different water samples of Bagru and Jharna area (Rajasthan). Eighteen different fungi were isolated out of twenty water samples using a spread plate method. These fungal isolates were Epidermatophyton floccosum, Microsporum ferrugineum,Microsporum gypseum, Microsporum cookei, Microsporum canis, Trichophyton rubrum,Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton concentricum, Trichophyton verrucosum,Trichophyton violaceum, other fungi were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus,Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus terreus, Rhizopus oryzae, Penicillium sp., Fusarium oxysporum and Chrysosporium tropicum. Our result concluded that these isolated fungi are pathogenic for animals and human beings. Keratinophilic fungi play an important role in degradation of keratin and they are known to cause superficial cutaneous infections.   Key words: Keratinophilic fungi, pathogenic, non-pathogenic, spread plate method, superficial cutaneous infections, dermatophytes.