The increasing incidence of opportunistic fungal infections necessitates rapid and accurate identification of the associated fungi to facilitate optimal patient treatment. Traditional phenotype-based identification methods utilized in clinical laboratories rely on the production and recognition of reproductive structures, making identification difficult or impossible when these structures are n...

PURPOSE Malassezia yeasts are globally distributed agents of pityriasis versicolor and are implicated in the pathogenesis of seborrhoeic and atopic dermatitis. The aim of this study is to identify the Malassezia species obtained from pityriasis versicolor patients, using morphological, biochemical, physiological as well as Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-...

Three genetically distinct groups of Candida parapsilosis were detected among clinical isolates. These were distinguishable on the basis of isoenzyme profiles and DNA sequences of internally transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences flanking the 5.8S RNA gene. In an investigation of 45 strains, including 32 clinical isolates from Texas, C. parapsilosis group I composed the majority of the common clini...

Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) was investigated for rapid differentiation of phenotypically similar yeast species. Sensitive tests indicated that some yeast strains with one, most strains with two, and all strains with three or more nucleotide differences in the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) or ITS2 region could be distinguished by PCR SSC...

The 5'-exonuclease Rat1 degrades pre-rRNA spacer fragments and processes the 5'-ends of the 5.8S and 25S rRNAs. UV crosslinking revealed multiple Rat1-binding sites across the pre-rRNA, consistent with its known functions. The major 5.8S 5'-end is generated by Rat1 digestion of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) spacer from cleavage site A(3). Processing from A(3) requires the 'A(3)-clust...

In this study, PCR assays targeting different Leishmania heat-shock protein 70 gene (hsp70) regions, producing fragments ranging in size from 230-390 bp were developed and evaluated to determine their potential as a tool for the specific molecular diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). A total of 70 Leishmania strains were analysed, including seven reference strains (RS) and 63 previously t...

The internal transcribed spacers of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene cluster, termed ITS1 and ITS2, are the most frequently used nuclear markers for phylogenetic analyses across many eukaryotic groups including most plant families. The reasons for the popularity of these markers include: 1.) Ease of amplification due to high copy number of the gene clusters, 2.) Available cost-effective methods a...

The poly-A specific ribonuclease (PARN), initially characterized for its role in mRNA catabolism, supports the processing of different types of non-coding RNAs including telomerase RNA. Mutations in PARN are linked to dyskeratosis congenita and pulmonary fibrosis. Here, we show that PARN is part of the enzymatic machinery that matures the human 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Consistent with its nucl...