Abstract Detail

Mycological Section

Yu, Zhihe [1], Hsiang, Tom [2], Wang, Long [3], Zeng, Zhaoqing [3], Yu, Yun [1], Cheng, Yunfang [1].

Screening molecular markers for Aspergillus fumigatus based on comparative analyses of Aspergillus genomes.

Aspergillus fumigatus is a saprophytic fungus widespread in nature, as well as an important opportunistic human pathogen. Specific molecular markers to identify Aspergillus species quickly and accurately is of great importance in disease diagnosis and clinical treatment. Based on comparative analyses of eight published Aspergillus genome sequences, the second largest RNA polymerase subunit (RPB2) gene was chosen here for further study. Specific molecular markers in A. fumigatus were found based on RPB2 multiple sequence alignments and polymorphic sites among several isolates of A. fumigatus and some related Aspergillus species. Thirty-four strains were examined, belonging to 20 taxa including Aspergillus awamori, A. clavatus, A. creber, A. flavus, A. fumigatus, A. lentulus, A. neoellipticus, A. niger, A. paraciticus, A. sydowii, A. tubingensis, A. ustus, Emericella nidulans, Emericella quadrilineata, Eurotium amstelodami, Eurotium critatum, Eurotium repens, Eurotium rubrum, Neosartorya fischeri and Neosartorya hirasukae. Two pairs of primers, F2625 (5’-cgatcgtggtctcttccga-3’) / R3438 (5’-ctgccgggtcagaatctgt-3’) and F2255 (5’-ccaacaagcgtgttcgttcag-3’) / R3044 (5’-tgtccgtgacgagaggcaaat-3’) were able to specifically amplify DNA of 11 strains of A. fumigatus and A. neoellipticus but not 18 other species of Aspergillus tested. The sequence lengths were ca 800 bp. The selection of these specific markers was based on comparative genomics analyses, and this type of methodology can be applied for fast and accurate identification and DNA barcoding of other fungi when whole genome sequences are available. The results suggested that these two pairs of molecular markers can be used for the rapid identification of A. fumigatus and A. neoellipticus, and also hinted that the RPB2 gene does not support species-level differences between these two taxa.

1 - Yangtze University, College of Life Sciences, 266 Jingmi Rd., Jingzhou, Hubei, 434025, China
2 - University of Guelph, Environmental Sciences, Guelph, ON, N1G2W1, Canada
3 - Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, 1 Beicheng West Rd., Beijing, 100101 , China

Keywords:
RPB2 gene
comparative genome
homology
Molecular identification.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 74
Location: Salon 1/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2015
Time: 4:45 PM
Number: 74005
Abstract ID:716
Candidate for Awards:None