PCR with fungus-specific primers, t

PCR with fungus-specific primers, targeting the conserved
sequences of 5.8S and 28S ribosomal DNAs (rDNAs) as well as
those of 18S and 28S rDNAs, results in the respective amplification of the species-specific internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 2 (ITS2) region and of the ITS1 and ITS2 regions, which vary
in amplicon length and sequence according to species (4, 6).
Recently, Turenne et al. reported that differences in the sizes
of the ITS2 regions of fungi were useful for the rapid identification of clinically important fungi (20). However, they found
only a three-nucleotide band difference when comparing the
lengths of C. albicans and C. krusei ITS2 amplicons. We used
the variability in the lengths of both ITS1 and ITS2 regions to
achieve the specific identification of fungal strains, and we
determined the lengths of PCR fragments by using both agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) and microchip electrophoresis
(ME).