PCR BASED DIAGNOSTIC METHOD FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF CLINICALLY IMPORTANT CANDIDA SPECIES

摘要

The invention is concerned with the field of PCR based diagnostic methods, more specifically with the di- agnosis of infectious diseases caused by different Candida species. Still more specifically the invention provides PCR based diagnostic methods for the detection of Candida species most commonly causing invasive candidia- sis. The methods of the invention enable the detection of the Candida species of interest directly from heparin containing blood samples and the specific PCR primers provided by the invention also enable the detection of more than one pathogenic Candida species in one single PCR reaction based on the significantly different sizes of the species specific amplicons produced.