Nucleic acid probes for the detection and identification of fungi

A method of determining whether one or more fungal species selected from the group of fungal species consisting of Aspergillus fumigatus, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Candida albicans, Coccidioides immitis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Histoplasma capsulatum, Aspergillus glaucus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus, Candida glabrata, Candida guilliermondii, Candida kefyr, Candida krudei, Candida lusitaniae, Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis, Pseudallescheria boydii, Aspergillus flavus and Sporothrix schenckii is present in a sample of fungi, said method comprising the following steps:

• a) extracting nucleic acid material from fungi contained in said sample;
• and
• b) using one or more labeled probes, each said labeled probe being specific for one of said fungal species from said group, to determine whether said fungal species identified by each said labeled probe is present in said sample, wherein said one or more labeled probes each has a nucleotide residue sequence selected from the group consisting of (SEQ ID NO:3), (SEQ ID NO:4), (SEQ ID NO:5), (SEQ ID NO:6), (SEQ ID NO:7), (SEQ ID NO:8), (SEQ ID NO:9), (SEQ ID NO:10), (SEQ ID NO:11), (SEQ ID NO:12), (SEQ ID NO:13), (SEQ ID NO:14), (SEQ ID NO:15), (SEQ ID NO:16), (SEQ ID NO:17), (SEQ ID NO:18), (SEQ ID NO:19), (SEQ ID NO:20), (SEQ ID NO:21), (SEQ ID NO:22), (SEQ ID NO:23) and the complements thereof.

An oligonucleotide probe/primer for fungi, said probe/primer having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:1) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide probe/primer for fungi, said probe/primer having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:2) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Aspergillus fumigatus, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:3) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Blascomyces dermatitidis, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:4) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Candida albicans, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:5) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Coccidioides immitis, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:6) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleocide hybridization probe for Cryptococcus neoformans, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:7) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Cryptococcus neoformans, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence (SEQ ID NO:8) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Hictoplasma capsulatum, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:9) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Aspergillus glaucus, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:10) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Aspergillus niger, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:11) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Aspergillus terreus, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:12) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Candida glabrata, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:13) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Candida guilliermondii, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:14) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Candida kefyr, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:15) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Candida krusei, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence (SEQ ID NO:16) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Candida lusitaniae, said probe having the nucleotide residual sequence of (SEQ ID NO 17) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Candida parapsilosis, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:18) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Candida tropicalis, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:19) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleocide hybridization probe for Pseudallescheria boydii, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:20) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Aspergillus flavus, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:21) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Sporothrix schenckii, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:22) or the complement thereof.

An oligonucleotide hybridization probe for Sporothrix schenckii, said probe having the nucleotide residue sequence of (SEQ ID NO:23) or the complement thereof.