TRICHOPHYTON

a genus of fungi (division Mycota) that infects the skin, hair, and nails of man and other animals. It is one of several causes of athlete's foot, jockstrap itch, and other ringworm (q.v.) infections in man. T. verrucosum causes ringworm in cattle. Although worldwide in distribution, some species apparently are more abundant in some areas than in others. T. schoenleini, for example, is the cause of a human skin infection in the Mediterranean, and T. rubrum causes a similar disease in the tropics.