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Pneumocystis carinii shows DNA homology with the ustomycetous red yeast fungi
Author(s) -
Wakefield Ann E.,
Peters Sarah E.,
Banerji Suneale,
Bridge Paul D.,
Hall Geoffrey S.,
Hawksworth David L.,
Guiver Lynden A.,
Allen Andrew G.,
Hopkin Julian M.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1992.tb01363.x
Subject(s) - biology , pneumocystis carinii , homology (biology) , yeast , dna , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , virology , gene , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , pneumocystis jirovecii
Summary Pneumocystis carinii causes life‐threatening pneumonia in T‐lymphocyte‐immunodeficient subjects in transplant and oncology units or with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Recent DNA homology studies show P. carinii to be a fungus. To investigate the biology and epidemiology of this parasite further, we elected to determine for it a more precise taxonomic assignment within the fungal kingdom. We screened a wide range of organisms representing the major orders of fungi using DNA amplification and subsequently sequenced a portion of the mitochondrial gene encoding the large subunit ribosomal RNA. Our data show that the opportunistic pulmonary pathogen P. carinii is closely related to the ustomycetous red yeast fungi, a group which includes organisms that are extensively distributed throughout the environment and which release many widely dispersed airborne spores.