Current Microbiology, Vol.58, No.2, 164-169, 2009
Simple Method to Accurately Differentiate Candida albicans Isolates Concurrently Using Polymorphic Patterns of PCR-Amplified, Species-Specific Nuclear and Mitochondrial Targets
We describe a simple method to accurately differentiate Candida albicans isolates by concurrent use of the restriction enzyme digestion patterns for PCR products, targeting two species-specific DNA regions originating from genetically different sources, the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. The target sequence we used as the nuclear gene was derived from the PHO85 gene, a negative regulator of the PHO system, in which we found a restriction size polymorphism within the two alleles of PHO85 in the diploid genome of this fungus. The mitochondrial target was derived from EO3, a species-specific DNA fragment possessing a small size polymorphism among various clinical isolates. Our results should provide a new tool for molecular epidemiological surveys of patients suffering from candidiasis caused by C. albicans.