Abstract

A total of 50 soil samples collected from school and college playgrounds soil of Jaipur, India were examined for the prevalence of keratinophilic fungi and related dermatophytes. Two keratinous fragments, human hair and nails were used for the growth of fungi by hair-baiting technique. A total number of 25 species belonging to 16 genera were recovered, 8 of which were common to both the school and college playgrounds soil. Dermatophytes and closely related species were represented by 25 species; of which the following were the most commonly found species in soil:Chrysosporium tropicum (26%), Chrysosporium indicum (22%), Trichophyton mentagrophytes (16%), Microsporum gypseum (14%), etc. Some of the isolates of these related and dermatophytes like Trichophyton verrucosum, Trichophytontonsurans, Cladosporium sp., Paecilomyces sp., Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillusversicolar, Alternaria sp., Fusarium moniliforme, etc, were first isolated from playgrounds soil of Jaipur. The selection of certain keratinolytic isolates could become useful in managing polluted soil of playgrounds by students and people. To our knowledge, This appears to be the first report concerning the isolation of T.  tonsurans, A.  versicolar,  Cladosporium  sp.,  Trichophyton  verrucosum,  Alternaria  sp.,Paecilomyces  sp.,  F. moniliforme  and A.  nidulans as keratinolytic fungi from soil samples  of  Jaipur (India).

Key words: Playgrounds soil, keratinophilic fungi, dermatophytes, Jaipur.