Genotyping of Malassezia pachydermatis isolates from canine healthy skin and lesional skin of atopic dermatitis in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Isolates of the yeast Malassezia pachydermatis obtained from skin samples of healthy dogs and of dogs with atopic dermatitis in Japan, Taiwan and Korea were molecularly characterized using intergenic pacer 1 (IGS1) region analysis. The percentage of IGS1 subtype isolates detected in healthy skin was as follows: 1A (6%), 1B (27%), 1C (11%), 2A (6%), 2B (6%), 3A (11%), 3B (6%), 3C (3%) and 3D (24%). In contrast, the most prevalent isolates detected in skin lesions of atopic dermatitis were subtype 3D in Japan and Taiwan and subtype 3C in Korea. All subtype isolates grew well on acidic medium (pH 6). However, subtype 3C and 3D isolates grew better than the other subtype isolates on medium at pH 8.