Strains of Exophiala dermatitidis, mainly originating from patients with systemic neurotropic mycosis in Asia and from the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) in Europe, were analysed by ribotyping of the small subunit rDNA and by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD). A characteristic banding pattern for the species was found after restriction analysis of amplified fragments V9 and ITS4. The small subunit rDNA gene of five strains was about 1800 base pairs (bp) long, while in 16 strains its length was about 3000 bp. Using RAPD, seven populations could be distinguished. European CF strains as well as Asian strains from systemic mycoses are mainly distributed over two populations, one of which contained both CF strains and a systemic strain. It is concluded that the two clinical pictures are caused by genetically similar strains. The differences in pathogenicity may be explained by immunological differences in the hosts or by differences in exposure to the fungal propagules.