In vitro growth versus inhibition of growth of Malassezia pachydermatis in the presence of the antibacterial drug gentamicin

Malassezia pachydermatis is part of the normal cutaneous microbiota of most warm-blooded vertebrates and is associated with otitis externa and seborrhoeic dermatitis in dogs and cats. In this study, we evaluated the growth capacity of nine M. pachydermatis strains on Sabouraud medium in the presence of a high concentration of gentamicin. Strains of M. pachydermatis cultured on Sabouraud medium in the presence of 50 and 100 µg gentamicin ml(-1) displayed different growth patterns such as growth or lack of growth. We hypothesized that this difference in growth of M. pachydermatis strains was correlated with the different genotypes of the strains. Random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was applied for genetic typing of M. pachydermatis isolates, derived from the external ears of house pet cats suffering from otitis externa. The M. pachydermatis strains were cultured on commercial or home-made Sabouraud medium supplemented or not with gentamicin. RAPD analysis demonstrated a genetic heterogeneity between each strain. In particular, five out of nine strains tested were able to form colonies in the presence of gentamicin. However, a correlation between M. pachydermatis genotype and growth capacity in the presence of gentamicin was not widely demonstrated.