Mycopathologia 143: 165–169, 1999. © 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 165 Comparison between human and armadillo Paracoccidioides brasiliensis isolates by random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis Ayako Sano 1 , Reiko Tanaka 1 , Koji Yokoyama 1 , Marcello Franco 2 , Eduardo Bagagli 3 , Mario Rubens Montenegro 4 , Yuzuru Mikami 1 , Makoto Miyaji 1 & Kazuko Nishimura 1 1 Research Center for Pathogenic Fungi and Microbial Toxicoses, Chiba University, 1-8-1, Inohana, Chiba, Chuo- ku, Chiba, 260-8673 Japan; 2 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Paulista Medical School, UNIFESP, Rua Botucatu, 740 Vila Clementino, 04034-900, São Paulo, Capital, Brazil; 3 Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, São Paulo State University, UNESP, 18603-970 Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil; 4 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, São Paulo State University, UNESP, 18603-970 Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil Received 19 May 1998; accepted in revised form 22 December 1998 Abstract Sixty-three Paracoccidioides brasiliensis isolates obtained from three nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novem- cinctus), one Amazonian armadillo’s and 19 clinical isolates were compared by random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis with the primer OPG-19. The isolates were divided into three major clusters, I, II and III. Coin- cidences between human and armadillo isolates were observed in clusters I and II. Cluster III consisted only of armadillos’ isolates. The results suggested that (I) humans may acquire P. brasiliensis infection by contact with armadillo’s environment, (II) there may be P. brasiliensis genotypes peculiar to the animal, and (III) individual armadillos may be infected with P. brasiliensis cells with different genotypes. Key words: armadillo, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, PCR, RAPD Introduction Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is the etiologic agent of paracoccidioidomycosis [1, 2]. It is a thermally di- morphic fungus which develops mycelial form at room temperature and multiple budding yeast form in infec- ted hosts or in vitro culture at 35–37 ◦ C. There have been reported many natural isolates of P. brasiliensis [3–10]. Recently, nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) have been revealed to be a natural reser- voir of the fungus as reported by Naiff et al. and Bagagli et al. [7, 11] and that the fungus lives in their internal organs such as the spleen, liver, and mesenteric lymph nodes. Although many armadillos’ isolates have been obtained, their individual genotypes have not been evaluated. The present study aims to compare these isolates with Amazonian armadillo’s and clinical ones by random amplified polymorphic DNA pattern. Materials and methods Isolates Isolate Tatu (=IFM46463) was obtained from macerate of an Amazonian armadillo inoculated in hamsters (and kindly provided by Dr. Naiff). Twelve Brazilian human isolates were Pb-18 (=IFM41621), Pb-265 (=IFM46466), Pb-267 (=IFM46465), Pb- 339 (=IFM41630=B-339), B-1183 (=IFM41628), Bt-1 (=IFM46464), Bt-3 (=IFM41623), Bt- 4 (=IFM41624), Bt-7 (=IFM41625), Bt-9 (=IFM41626), Pb-HC (=IFM46467) and Recife (=IFM41631). Five Japanese patient isolates were Aoki (=IFM41632), Hachisuga (=IFM41633), WAG (=IFM46215), Tateishi (=IFM46240) and UME (=IFM46930). These patients had histories of having lived in Latin America for at least four years. Two Costa Rican patient isolates were P-25 (=IFM46468) and P-30 (=IFM46470).