==== Front Emerg Infect Dis Emerg Infect Dis EID Emerging Infectious Diseases 1080-6040 1080-6059 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 23-0114 10.3201/eid2907.230114 Etymologia Etymologia Fonsecaea pedrosoi Etymologia: Fonsecaea pedrosoi Fonsecaea pedrosoi Moraes Dayane Bailão Alexandre Melo Silva-Bailão Mirelle Garcia Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil Address for correspondence: Mirelle Garcia Silva-Bailão, Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Avenida Esperança s/n ICB2, Sala 217, Goiânia, Brazil; email: mgsbailao@ufg.br 7 2023 29 7 13121312 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Emerging Infectious Diseases is a publication of the U.S. Government. This publication is in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from this work may be reprinted freely. Use of these materials should be properly cited. Keywords: Fonsecaea pedrosoi etymologia fungal infections fungi chromoblastomycosis dermatomycoses ==== Body pmcFonse caea pedrosoi [fon-se-se′ə pedro´soi] Chromoblastomycosis (CBM) is a neglected tropical disease caused by dematiaceous fungi, mainly Fonsecaea pedrosoi (Figure). This disease resembles blastomycosis in the Americas; the prefix indicates causative microorganisms’ pigmentation. In 1911, Pedroso observed histologic pathognomonic findings for CBM. He also observed rounded and brownish elements, now called muriform cells, in skin biopsy specimens from a patient in Goiás, Brazil. In 1915, Medlar described a similar cutaneous infection on the basis of culture and histologic analyses. In 1922, Brumpt reported Pedroso’s findings as Hormodendrum pedrosoi. Genus description referred to dendroidal conidial chains. Figure Micrographs showing tissue and culture analyses of a fungal infection case described by Medlar in 1915. A) Section of 5-week-old colony. B) Muriform bodies inside a giant cell. C) Hyphae in a 4-week-old colony. D) Aerial hypha showing numerous, typical sporogenous cells. Subsequent publications classified this fungus into different genera (Botrytoides, Phialophora, Phidoconidiophora, and Trichosporium) on the basis of type of sporulation. Multiple forms of conidiation in dematiaceous fungi contributed to frequent genus changes. Terra et al. described this fungus as Acrotheca pedrosoi. In 1936, Negroni renamed this microorganism Fonsecaea pedrosoi because Hormodendrum and Acrotheca reproductive structures were recognized in samples. The genus was named in honor of Fonseca Filho, a Brazilian investigator who made notable contributions to dermatomycoses. Suggested citation for this article: Moraes D, Melo Bailão AM, Garcia Silva-Bailão MG. Etymologia: Fonsecaea pedrosoi. Emerg Infect Dis. 2023 Jul [date cited]. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2907.230114 ==== Refs Sources 1. Brumpt E. Hormodendrum pedrosoi Brumpt. In: Précis de parasitology [in French]. Paris: Masson and Cie; 1922. p. 1105 [cited 2023 Apr 29]. https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201300541075 2. Medlar EM. A cutaneous infection caused by a new fungus, Phialophora verrucosa, with a study of the fungus. J Med Res. 1915;32:507–22.9. 3. Negroni P. Study of the first Argentine case of chromomycosis, Fonsecaea (Neg.) pedrosoi (Brump) 1921 [in Portuguese]. Rev Inst Bacteriol. 1936;7 :424. 4. Pedroso A, Gomes JM. About four cases of verrucous dermatitis produced by Phialophora verrucosa [in Portuguese]. An Paul Med Cir. 1920;11 :53–61. 5. Terra F, Torres M, Fonseca FO, Arêa-Leão A. New type of verrucous dermatitis: Acrotheca mycosis associated with leishmaniasis [in Portuguese]. Bras Med. 1922;36 :363–8.