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In the present study, an innovative top-down liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the identification of clinically relevant fungi is tested using a model set of dermatophyte strains. The methodology characterizes intact proteins derived from Trichophyton species, which are used as parameters of differentiation. To test its resolving power compared to that of traditional Sanger sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF), 24 strains of closely related dermatophytes, Trichophyton rubrum, T. violaceum, T. tonsurans, T. equinum, and T. interdigitale, were subjected to this new approach. Using MS/MS and different deconvolution algorithms, we identified hundreds of individual proteins, with a subpopulation of these used as strain- or species-specific markers. Three species, i.e., T. rubrum, T. violaceum, and T. interdigitale, were identified correctly down to the species level. Moreover, all isolates associated with these three species were identified correctly down to the strain level. In the T. tonsurans-equinum complex, eight out of 12 strains showed nearly identical proteomes, indicating an unresolved taxonomic conflict already apparent from previous phylogenetic data. In this case, it was determined with high probability that only a single species can be present. Our study successfully demonstrates applicability of the mass spectrometric approach to identify clinically relevant filamentous fungi. Here, we present the first proof-of-principle study employing the mentioned technology to differentiate microbial pathogens. The ability to differentiate fungi at the strain level sets the stage to improve patient outcomes, such as early detection of strains that carry resistance to antifungals.
Pubmed ID: 29695525
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NIH genetic sequence database that provides annotated collection of all publicly available DNA sequences for almost 280 000 formally described species (Jan 2014) .These sequences are obtained primarily through submissions from individual laboratories and batch submissions from large-scale sequencing projects, including whole-genome shotgun (WGS) and environmental sampling projects. Most submissions are made using web-based BankIt or standalone Sequin programs, and GenBank staff assigns accession numbers upon data receipt. It is part of International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration and daily data exchange with European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) and DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ) ensures worldwide coverage. GenBank is accessible through NCBI Entrez retrieval system, which integrates data from major DNA and protein sequence databases along with taxonomy, genome, mapping, protein structure and domain information, and biomedical journal literature via PubMed. BLAST provides sequence similarity searches of GenBank and other sequence databases. Complete bimonthly releases and daily updates of GenBank database are available by FTP.
View all literature mentionsCommercial vendor and service provider of laboratory reagents and antibodies. Supplier of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, and software services.
View all literature mentionsCollection of data of protein sequence and functional information. Resource for protein sequence and annotation data. Consortium for preservation of the UniProt databases: UniProt Knowledgebase (UniProtKB), UniProt Reference Clusters (UniRef), and UniProt Archive (UniParc), UniProt Proteomes. Collaboration between European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and Protein Information Resource. Swiss-Prot is a curated subset of UniProtKB.
View all literature mentionsSoftware package as multiple alignment program for amino acid or nucleotide sequences. Can align up to 500 sequences or maximum file size of 1 MB. First version of MAFFT used algorithm based on progressive alignment, in which sequences were clustered with help of Fast Fourier Transform. Subsequent versions have added other algorithms and modes of operation, including options for faster alignment of large numbers of sequences, higher accuracy alignments, alignment of non-coding RNA sequences, and addition of new sequences to existing alignments.
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