Identification of Fusarium Species Involved in Human Infections by 28S rRNA Gene Sequencing

Fusarium spp. have emerged as major opportunistic fungal agents. Since new antifungal agents exhibit variable activity against Fusarium isolates depending on the species, rapid identification at the species level is required. Conventional culture methods are difficult, fastidious, and sometimes inconclusive. In this work, we sequenced a 440-bp fragment encoding the 28S rRNA from 33 Fusarium isolates belonging to six Fusarium species associated with human infections. The data were then analyzed by the neighbor-joining method. By using distance matrix analysis and constructing the phylogram, we could easily distinguish the different species for all but one isolate. The method also allowed differentiation between the closely related genera Acremonium and Cylindrocarpon. In contrast to the case with conventional methods, the results could be obtained within 48 h from a 3-day culture and are independent of mycologist experience, making this method rapid and reliable for identification of Fusarium species isolated from patients.