Development of a species-specific probe for Pythium insidiosum and the diagnosis of pythiosis.

ABSTRACT: Pythium insidiosum, the only species in the genus that infects mammals, is the etiological agent of pythiosis, a granulomatous disease characterized by cutaneous and subcutaneous lesions and vascular diseases. Accurate diagnosis of pythiosis and identification of its causal agent are often inconsistent with current immunological diagnostic methods. A species-specific DNA probe was constructed by using a 530-bp HinfI fragment from the ribosomal DNA intergenic spacer of P. insidiosum. When the probe was incubated with dot blots of genomic DNA from 104 Pythium species, it hybridized only to the DNA of P. insidiosum and P. destruens-two species that have been considered conspecific. The probe also hybridized to DNA from 22 P. insidiosum isolates in this study, regardless of their geographic or

SUBMITTER: Schurko AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC427884 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature