Abstract
BackgroundAirborne fungi play an important role in causing allergy and infections in susceptible people. Identification of these fungi, based on morphological characteristics, is time-consuming, expertise-demanding, and could be inaccurate.MethodsWe developed an oligonucleotide array that could accurately identify 21 important airborne fungi (13 genera) that may cause adverse health problems. The method consisted of PCR amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, hybridization of the PCR products to a panel of oligonucleotide probes immobilized on a nylon membrane, and detection of the hybridization signals with alkaline phosphatase-conjugated antibodies.ResultsA collection of 72 target and 66 nontarget reference strains were analyzed by the array. Both the sensitivity and specificity of the array were 100%, and the detection limit was 10 pg of genomic DNA per assay. Furthermore, 70 fungal isolates recovered from air samples were identified by the array and the identification results were confirmed by sequencing of the ITS and D1/D2 domain of the large-subunit RNA gene. The sensitivity and specificity of the array for identification of the air isolates was 100% (26/26) and 97.7% (43/44), respectively.ConclusionsIdentification of airborne fungi by the array was cheap and accurate. The current array may contribute to decipher the relationship between airborne fungi and adverse health effect.
Highlights
Airborne fungi play an important role in causing allergy and infections in susceptible people
Exposure to fungal spores can cause a wide spectrum of allergenic reactions, such as asthma, and infections in susceptible individuals [1,2,3,4]
Many probes cross-reacted with heterologous species or produced weak hybridization signals with homologous species
Summary
Airborne fungi play an important role in causing allergy and infections in susceptible people. Exposure to fungal spores can cause a wide spectrum of allergenic reactions, such as asthma, and infections in susceptible individuals [1,2,3,4]. Asthma prevalence has considerably increased in recent decades such that it is one of the most common chronic disorders in the world [5,6,7]. Some severe diseases, such as allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and fungal sinusitis, may be found in susceptible or immunocompromised individuals through mold exposure [8,9]. The predominant genera of airborne fungi causing health concern are Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Penicillium [4]
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