Universal Parasite Detection

Targeted amplicon deep sequencing (TADS) of the 16S rRNA gene is commonly used to explore and characterize the bacterial microbiome. Meanwhile, attempts to apply TADS to the detection and characterization of entire parasitic communities have been hampered since conserved regions of their rRNA genes are also conserved in their eukaryotic hosts. As a result, targeted amplification of rRNA from clinical samples using universal primers frequently results in competitive priming and preferential amplification of host DNA. The Universal Parasite Detection project aims to address this by developing new approaches that result in preferential amplification of parasite-derived DNA amongst a larger background of host DNA prior to the application of TADS.