Fungal DNA barcode sequence identification [FDNA]

Published: July 8th, 2009

Revised: March 21st, 2023

This test provides a low-level identification of a pure fungal culture by sequencing of portions of the nuclear ribosomal gene, specifically the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region or other gene regions deemed most suitable based on preliminary culture and microscopic screening. Although it is not always possible to recover fungi in pure culture in order to facilitate sequencing, where this can be accomplished, DNA-based sequence identification is the gold-standard for confirming microbial identification because it is capable of identifying rare or atypical fungal isolates irrespective of their responses to diagnostic culture media or biochemical tests.

DNA is isolated from cells using standard procedures. The nuclear ribosomal ITS is amplified by PCR and sequenced in both directions. A consensus sequence of both forward and reverse strands is constructed, and this sequence is used to query one or more fungal DNA sequence database tools. This approach to fungal identification is unmatched in its ability to accurately identify troublesome isolates, or to ascertain the taxonomic position of novel strains.

Laboratory code: FDNA

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