One of the most important recent innovations in Clinical Microbiology is the introduction of molecular methods for the diagnosis of microbial infection. The use of real-time PCR assays in the clinical microbiology laboratory has led to significant improvements in the diagnosis of infectious disease. Real-time PCR is particularly useful for the detection of slow growing or difficult to grow
infectious agents and also for the quantitation of specific organisms in samples.

Andrew Sails has written a comprehensive review on the clinical applications of Real-Time PCR in the clinical microbiology laboratory. A recently published book review described his chapter as follows: "The most comprehensive chapter is Chapter 13 Application in Clinical Microbiology, in which large numbers of microorganisms are mentioned that can be readily identified by RT-PCR." Read more of this book review at Curr. Iss. Mol. Biol.

Further reading:

• Real-Time PCR: Current Technology and Applications
• Real-Time PCR in Microbiology: From Diagnosis to Characterization

Labels: book review, diagnosis, PCR, real-time PCR

Molecular diagnostic methods are currently being used for the early detection of many viral, bacterial, parasitic and fungal infections. Due to their high specificity and sensitivity, these methods will be inserted in the routine of the clinical laboratories to complement information provided by more conventional methods and above all, to help in the diagnosis of dubious cases. The design of specific probes, coupled to the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique provides the required specificity and sensitivity to identify fungal species in a short time. Multicopy genes such as those of ribosomal origin are preferred by many researchers to achieve well defined results. However, because they may generate false positive results, other researchers have looked at single-copy genes of high specificity. This technology is being applied to the identification of frequently found causative agents of systemic mycoses such as Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus and other species within these genera, or agents of less frequent mycoses produced by Coccidioides immitis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Histoplasma capsulatum, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, among others.

Further reading: Pathogenic Fungi: Insights in Molecular Biology

Labels: diagnosis, fungi, mycology, PCR, real-time PCR