| Summary: | Sporotrichosis, a disease caused by infections from Sporothrix species, primarily affects warm-blooded animals, particularly humans and cats. Sporotrichosis is emerging as a global threat, with high incidences in Brazil and China. The gold standard for diagnosing sporotrichosis is microscopic characterization of the pathogen isolated in culture. This methodology is tedious and time-consuming. Moreover, closely related Sporothrix species are often misidentified, due to similar phenotypic characteristics. The introduction of dissimilar species with specific geographic distributions, host predilections, virulence, and antifungal susceptibilities, has made species-level identification of Sporothrix mandatory. To facilitate meeting this requirement, we developed a PCR-based method for detecting and identifying Sporothrix species. We designed species-specific primers for identifying S. brasiliensis, S. schenckii, S. globosa, S. mexicana, S. pallida, and Ophiostoma stenoceras. With this method, we could detect as little as 1 pg and 10 fg (depending on the species) of Sporothrix DNA derived from isolated cultures. Furthermore, we successfully detected S. brasiliensis and S. schenckii DNA in tissue samples derived from a murine model of disseminated sporotrichosis. These species-specific primers can be applied in epidemiology, clinical diagnosis, and experimental studies of sporotrichosis. Improvements in early diagnosis and surveillance systems may facilitate rapid identification and control of future outbreaks.
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