title: Genetic diversity of Coccidioides posadasii from Brazil.
abstract: Studies of the genetic variation within populations of Coccidioides posadasii are scarce, especially for those recovered from South America. Understanding the distribution of genotypes among populations is important for epidemiological surveillance. This study evaluated the genetic diversity of 18 Brazilian strains of C. posadasii through the sequencing of the 18-28S region of nuclear rDNA, as well as through RAPD and M13-PCR fingerprinting techniques. The sequences obtained were compared to Coccidioides spp. previously deposited in GenBank. The MEGA5 program was used to perform phylogenetic analyses. Within the C. posadasii clade, a single cluster was observed, containing seven isolates from Ceará, which presented a single nucleotide polymorphism. These isolates were from the same geographical area. The strains of C. posadasii showed a lower rate of genetic diversity in the ITS1 and ITS2 regions. The results of M13 and RAPD-PCR fingerprinting indicated a similar electrophoretic profile. No differences between clinical and environmental isolates were detected. This was the first study assessing the genetic variability of a larger number of C. posadasii isolates from Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Specialized Medical Mycology Center, Federal University of Ceará , Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. brilhante@ufc.br
authors.forename: Raimunda Sâmia Nogueira
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Brilhante
authors.forename: Rita Amanda Chaves
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: de Lima
authors.forename: Joyce Fonteles
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Zoilo Pires
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: de Camargo
authors.forename: Débora de Souza Collares Maia
authors.initials: Dde S
authors.lastname: Castelo-Branco
authors.forename: Thalles Barbosa
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Grangeiro
authors.forename: Rossana de Aguiar
authors.initials: Rde A
authors.lastname: Cordeiro
authors.forename: Marcos Fábio
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Gadelha Rocha
authors.forename: José Júlio Costa
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Sidrim
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003045:Coccidioides / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003047:Coccidioidomycosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer