Assays for fungal infection
AssigneeRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
InventorsDavid S. Perlin, Steven Park, David W. Denning
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Abstract
Methods and kits are described for testing for the presence or absence of any fungus in a sample. Examples of fungi that can be detected include, but are not limited to, those belonging to the genera Candida, Aspergillus and Pneumocystis. The methods include obtaining a sample suspected of containing fungal nucleic acid, including at least one universal region of fungal nucleic acid, and testing for the presence or absence in the sample of the at least one universal region of fungal nucleic acid. Samples may be biological or non-biological.
Claims19
A method for detecting the presence or absence of any species of a fungus belonging to the genus Aspergillus in a human clinical sample, comprising:
- i. obtaining a human clinical sample suspected of containing fungal nucleic acid from the genus Aspergillus, and
- ii. testing for the presence or absence in the human clinical sample of an identifying region of fungal nucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO:
- 14, the complement or transcript thereof, or a sequence having 80% or more sequence identity with SEQ ID NO:
- 14, the complement or transcript thereof, said identifying region being present in species of the genus Aspergillus but not those of the genus of Candida or Pneumocystis, wherein the testing includes contacting the human clinical sample with a molecular beacon probe comprising SEQ ID NO:
- 17 and
- wherein the presence of said identifying region of fungal nucleic acid indicates the presence of any species of a fungus belonging to the genus Aspergillus in the human clinical sample, and the absence of said identifying region of fungal nucleic acid in the human clinical sample indicates the absence of any species of a fungus belonging to the genus Aspergillus in the human clinical sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.