Pneumocystis carinii shows DNA homology with the ustomycetous red yeast fungi.
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.
Wakefield
A E
AE
Department of Paediatrics, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Peters
S E
SE
Banerji
S
S
Bridge
P D
PD
Hall
G S
GS
Hawksworth
D L
DL
Guiver
L A
LA
Allen
A G
AG
Hopkin
J M
JM
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics*; D005289:Ferrets; D005658:Fungi / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011010:Pneumocystis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D004271:DNA, Fungal