TY - JOUR
T1 - Diagnosis of Fusarium Infections
T2 - Approaches to Identification by the Clinical Mycology Laboratory
AU - van Diepeningen, Anne D
AU - Brankovics, Balázs
AU - Iltes, Jearidienne
AU - van der Lee, Theo A J
AU - Waalwijk, Cees
PY - 2015/8/25
Y1 - 2015/8/25
N2 - Infections caused by the genus Fusarium have emerged over the past decades and range from onychomycosis and keratitis in healthy individuals to deep and disseminated infections with high mortality rates in immune-compromised patients. As antifungal susceptibility can differ between the different Fusarium species, identification at species level is recommended. Several clinical observations as hyaline hyphae in tissue, necrotic lesions in the skin and positive blood tests with fungal growth or presence of fungal cell wall components may be the first hints for fusariosis. Many laboratories rely on morphological identification, but especially multi-locus sequencing proves better to discriminate among members of the species complexes involved in human infection. DNA-based diagnostic tools have best discriminatory power when based on translation elongation factor 1-α or the RNA polymerase II second largest subunit. However, assays based on the detection of other fusarial cell compounds such as peptides and cell wall components may also be used for identification. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview and a comparison of the different tools currently available for the diagnosis of fusariosis.
AB - Infections caused by the genus Fusarium have emerged over the past decades and range from onychomycosis and keratitis in healthy individuals to deep and disseminated infections with high mortality rates in immune-compromised patients. As antifungal susceptibility can differ between the different Fusarium species, identification at species level is recommended. Several clinical observations as hyaline hyphae in tissue, necrotic lesions in the skin and positive blood tests with fungal growth or presence of fungal cell wall components may be the first hints for fusariosis. Many laboratories rely on morphological identification, but especially multi-locus sequencing proves better to discriminate among members of the species complexes involved in human infection. DNA-based diagnostic tools have best discriminatory power when based on translation elongation factor 1-α or the RNA polymerase II second largest subunit. However, assays based on the detection of other fusarial cell compounds such as peptides and cell wall components may also be used for identification. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview and a comparison of the different tools currently available for the diagnosis of fusariosis.
U2 - 10.1007/s12281-015-0225-2
DO - 10.1007/s12281-015-0225-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 26301000
SN - 1936-3761
VL - 9
SP - 135
EP - 143
JO - Current Fungal Infection Reports
JF - Current Fungal Infection Reports
IS - 3
ER -