Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) Region Sequence Heterogeneity in Cunninghamella bertholletiae, Cunninghamella echinulata, and Rhizopus microsporus
Cunninghamella bertholletiae and Rhizopus microsporus are human-pathogenic members of the order Mucorales. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region has been proposed as the universal DNA barcode for fungi, and each fungal organism may contain multiple ITS copies. This study characterizes patterns of intragenomic ITS variation in C. bertholletiae, C. echinulata, and R. microsporus using cloning and sequencing of the ITS region, with the D1/D2 region of the large subunit rDNA serving as a comparator. These findings provide insights into molecular diversity and species identification within these taxa.