AUTHOR=Hoang Minh Thuy Vi , Irinyi Laszlo , Chen Sharon C. A. , Sorrell Tania C. , The ISHAM Barcoding of Medical Fungi Working Group , Meyer Wieland , Arabatzis Michael , Arthur Ian , Cano-Lira Jose F. , Cardinali Gianluigi , Castañón Laura Rosio , Chen Sharon , Chen Wen , Chindamporn Ariya , Colombo Arnaldo L. , Desnos-Ollivier Marie , de Beer Wilhelm , de Hoog Sybren , Dromer Françoise , Garcia-Hermoso Dea , Gryzenhout Marieka , Guarro Josep , Halliday Catriona , Hendrickx Marijke , Huhndorf Sabine , Irinyi Laszlo , Levesque C. Andre , Meyer Wieland , Luiza Moretti Maria , de Medeiros Muniz Mauro , de Azevedo Melo Analy Salles , Satie Nishikaku Angela , Normand Anne-Cécile , Pais Célia , Piarroux Renaud , Ranque Stéphane , Robbertse Barbara , Robert Vincent , Schoch Conrad L. , Seifert Keith A. , de Almeida Soares Célia Maria , Sorrell Tania C. , Spouge John L. , Stubbe Dirk , Lucia Taylor Maria , Toriello Conchita , Velegraki Aristea , Yurayart Chompoonek , Maria Zancopé-Oliveira Rosely TITLE=Dual DNA Barcoding for the Molecular Identification of the Agents of Invasive Fungal Infections JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=10 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01647 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.01647 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

Invasive fungal infections, such as aspergillosis, candidiasis, and cryptococcosis, have significantly increased among immunocompromised people. To tackle these infections the first and most decisive step is the accurate identification of the causal pathogen. Routine identification of invasive fungal infections has progressed away from culture-dependent methods toward molecular techniques, including DNA barcoding, a highly efficient and widely used diagnostic technique. Fungal DNA barcoding previously relied on a single barcoding region, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. However, this allowed only for 75% of all fungi to be correctly identified. As such, the translational elongation factor 1α (TEF1α) was recently introduced as the secondary barcode region to close the gap. Both loci together form the dual fungal DNA barcoding scheme. As a result, the ISHAM Barcoding Database has been expanded to include sequences for both barcoding regions to enable practical implementation of the dual barcoding scheme into clinical practice. The present study investigates the impact of the secondary barcode on the identification of clinically important fungal taxa, that have been demonstrated to cause severe invasive disease. Analysis of the barcoding regions was performed using barcoding gap analysis based on the genetic distances generated with the Kimura 2-parameter model. The secondary barcode demonstrated an improvement in identification for all taxa that were unidentifiable with the primary barcode, and when combined with the primary barcode ensured accurate identification for all taxa analyzed, making DNA barcoding an important, efficient and reliable addition to the diagnostic toolset of invasive fungal infections.