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| For further information please contact Nader Pourmand |
The aim of this project is to develop a genome-based method to assess the microbial environment that is easy to use, rapid, sensitive and accurate. Fungal outbreaks of Stachybotrys and Cladosporium species are common in humid climates and water-damaged structures. Also, some species produce pathogenic toxins that can cause respiratory illness, while morphologically similar species do not. This study focuses on 22 species, comprising nine genera. Because little sequence information is available, several regions are being investigated to facilitate the design of species-specific primers. The internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region flanking rRNA genes has been used for initial Pyrosequencing analysis. Also, in order to construct a simple hybridization detection device, a microarray platform is being developed. However, since a more heterogenous region than ITS1 is required, the cytochrome C oxidase subunit 2 (COX2) is being cloned and sequenced. The trichodiene synthase (Tri5) gene involved in toxin production, and possibly pathogenicity, is also under scrutiny.