Identification of coccidioidomycosis causative agent by means of polymerase chain reaction

For the purpose of diagnosing coccidioidomycosis by means of PCR, two pairs of primers were constructed. The first one was developed on the basis of MBP-I gene to be used for identification of two Coccidioides species, C. immitis and C. posadasii. The other pair of primers was constructed on the basis of the gene encoding immunodominant glycoprotein of the spherule outer wall (SOW gp82) to be used for identification of C. posadasii. With these primers, both highly sensitive and highly specific identification of coccidioidomycosis causative agents proved to be possible. An efficient procedure was developed for isolation of fungal DNA from soil contaminated with Coccidioides spp. arthrospores. This procedure includes guanidine thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform deproteinization followed by DNA purification by means of nucleosorption.