OBJECTIVE This study was carried out to characterize Candida dubliniensis using phenotypic and molecular methods and to determine the occurrence of C. dubliniensis in clinical specimens in Kuwait. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 880 clinical specimens for isolation of fungi were processed according to standard procedures. Of these, 390 germ-tube-positive clinical isolates of Candida species ...

Polygalaceae is a large family with cosmopolitan distribution, comprising ca. 1,200 species in 27 genera. However, similar to many plant groups, the identification of mostly depends on floral and fruit characteristics; therefore, DNA barcoding could easily warrant corect sterile material. In current study, utility six widely employed barcode loci, namely rbcL, matK, trnL-F region (including trn...

BACKGROUND Multilocus PCR coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (PCR/ESI-MS) is a new strategy for pathogen identification, but information about its application in fungal identification remains sparse. METHODS One-hundred and twelve strains and isolates of clinically important fungi and Prototheca species were subjected to both rRNA gene sequencing and PCR/ESI-MS. Three regi...

Metabarcoding has become an important tool in the discovery of biodiversity, including fungi, which are the second most speciose group of eukaryotes, with diverse and important ecological roles in terrestrial ecosystems. We have designed and tested new PCR primers that target the D1 variable region of nuclear large subunit (LSU) ribosomal DNA; one set that targets the phylum Ascomycota and anot...

Approximately 10 million people are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, which remains the most serious parasitic disease in the Americas. Most people are infected via triatomine vectors. Transmission has been largely halted in South America in areas with predominantly domestic vectors. However, one of the main Chagas vectors in Mesoamerica, Triatoma dimidiata...

BACKGROUND Fascioliasis, caused by Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica, has medical and economic importance in the world. Molecular approaches comparing traditional methods using for identification and characterization of Fasciola spp. are precise and reliable. The aims of current study were molecular characterization of Fasciola spp. in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran and then comparative analys...

UNLABELLED The northern European taxa of genus Melanostoma Schiner, 1860 (Syrphidae, Diptera) are revised. A longstanding question concerning the number of Melanostoma taxa occurring in northern Europe prompted us to contrast and compare their morphological and molecular variability. Particular uncertainty concerned the putative existence of a sibling species of Melanostoma mellinum, and the id...

DNA sequencing analyses have demonstrated relatively limited polymorphisms within the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions among Trichophyton spp. We sequenced the ITS region (ITS1, 5.8S, and ITS2) for 42 dermatophytes belonging to seven species (Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, T. soudanense, T. tonsurans, Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum canis, and M. gypseum) and deve...