Apple Daily, 2010年02月21日
香港大學微生物學系發現致命新品種毛霉菌，也是全球首次發現，命名香港型橫梗霉屬（ Lichtheimia hongkongensis）。
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Lichtheimia hongkongensis sp. nov., a novel Lichtheimia spp. associated with rhinocerebral, gastrointestinal, and cutaneous mucormycosis.
Woo PC, Lau SK, Ngan AH, Tung ET, Leung SY, To KK, Cheng VC, Yuen KY. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2010 Mar;66(3):274-284.
State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Research Centre of Infection and Immunology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Three thermotolerant "Absidia-like" isolates with unique morphologic characteristics, recovered from nasopharyngeal swab of a liver transplant recipient, gastric biopsy of a renal transplant recipient, and skin biopsy of a man with burn, respectively, were characterized. Microscopic examination showed nonseptate hyphae with highly branched sporangiophores. Uniquely, most side branches were circinate, and abundant pleomorphic giant cells with fingerlike projections were observed, characteristics absent from other Absidia/Lichtheimia spp. ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rRNA gene cluster, partial EF1alpha gene, and partial beta-actin gene sequencing showed that the 3 strains formed a distinct cluster, most closely related to, but distinct from, Lichtheimia corymbifera, Lichtheimia blakesleeana, and Lichtheimia hyalospora. Based on the morphologic and genotypic characteristics, we propose a new species, Lichtheimia hongkongensis sp. nov., to describe this fungus, which caused rhinocerebral, gastrointestinal, and cutaneous mucormycosis, respectively, in 3 patients. A significant proportion of L. corymbifera associated with mucormycosis reported may be L. hongkongensis. Copyright © 2010