Kit for detecting Candida species

A kit for determining the presence or absence of one or more of Candida (C.) albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. dubliniensis, and C. tropicalis in a sample, the kit comprising:

• (a1) a target capture reagent comprising first and second Candida-specific target capture oligomers (TCOs) and a Candida-specific T7 primer, wherein
• (i) the first Candida-specific TCO comprises a first Candida-specific TCO target-hybridizing sequence consisting of the nucleotide sequence of residues 1-20 of SEQ ID NO:24,
• (ii) the second Candida-specific TCO comprises a second Candida-specific TCO target-hybridizing sequence consisting of the nucleotide sequence of residues 1-17 of SEQ ID NO:66, and
• (iii) the Candida-specific T7 primer comprises (A) a Candida-specific T7 primer target-hybridizing sequence consisting of the nucleotide sequence of residues 28-46 of SEQ ID NO:9 and (B) a T7 promoter sequence located 5′ to the Candida-specific T7 primer target-hybridizing sequence;
• (b1) an amplification reagent comprising first and second Candida-specific non-T7 primers, wherein
• (i) the first Candida-specific non-T7 primer comprises a first Candida-specific non-T7 primer target-hybridizing sequence consisting of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:26, and
• (ii) the second Candida-specific non-T7 primer comprises a second Candida-specific non-T7 primer target-hybridizing sequence consisting of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:34;
• and
• (c1) a promoter reagent comprising the Candida-specific T7 primer defined in (a1) (iii) and a Candida-specific detection probe, wherein the Candida-specific detection probe comprises a Candida-specific detection probe target-hybridizing sequence consisting of the nucleotide sequence of residues 1-22 of SEQ ID NO:27.