Abstract: Nucleic acids for detecting Aspergillus species and other filamentous fungi are provided. Unique internal transcribed space 2 coding regions permit the development of nucleic acid probes specific for five different species of Aspergillus, three species of Fusarium, four species of Mucor, two species of Penecillium, five species of Rhizopus, one species of Rhizomucor, as well as probes for Absidia corymbifer, Cunninghamella elagans, Pseudallescheria boydii, and Sporothrix schenkii. Methods are disclosed for the species-specific detection and diagnosis of infection by Aspergillus, Fusarium, Mucor, Penecillium, Rhizomucor, absidia, Cunninghaemella, Pseudallescheria or Sporthrix in a subject. Furthermore, genus-specific probes are also provided for Aspergillus, Fusarium and Mucor, in addition to an all-fungus nucleic acid probe.

Abstract: The present invention provides the nucleotide sequence of the M antigen gene of H. capsulatum, which is set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ ID NO:1, a nucleic acid having the nucleotide sequence complementary thereto, and nucleic acids having a nucleotide sequence which is substantially the same as the foregoing nucleotide sequences. The present invention also provides vectors and host expressions systems containing the foregoing nucleic acids, and isolated or recombinantly-produced antigens encoded by the foregoing nucleic acids. The present invention further provides antibodies generated against the foregoing antigens, and methods and kits for detecting a previous or current Histoplasma capsulatum infection in a subject, and for diagnosing histoplasmosis.

Abstract: Nucleic acids for detecting Aspergillus species and other filamentous fungi are provided. Unique internal transcribed spacer 2; coding regions permit the development of nucleic acid probes specific for five different species of Aspergillus, three species of Fusarium, four species of Mucor, two species of Penecillium, five species of Rhizopus, one species of Rhizomucor, as well as probes for Absidia corymbifera, Cunninghamella elagans, Pseudallescheria boydii, and Sporothrix schenkii. The invention thereby provides methods for the species-specific detection and diagnosis of infection by Aspergillus, Fusarium, Mucor, Penecillium, Rhizopus, Rhizomucor, Absidia, Cunninghamella, Pseudallescheria or Sporothrix in a subject. Furthermore, genus-specific probes are also provided for Aspergillus, Fusarium and Mucor, in addition to an all-fungus nucleic acid probe.

Abstract: Nucleic acids for detecting Aspergillus species and other filamentous fungi are provided. Unique internal transcribed space 2 coding regions permit the development of nucleic acid probes specific for five different species of Aspergillus, three species of Fusarium, four species of Mucor, two species of Penecillium, five species of Rhizopus, one species of Rhizomucor, as well as probes for Absidia corymbifer, Cunninghamella elagans, Pseudallescheria boydii, and Sporothrix schenkii. Methods are disclosed for the species-specific detection and diagnosis of infection by Aspergillus, Fusarium, Mucor, Penecillium, Rhizomucor, absidia, Cunninghaemella, Pseudallescheria or Sporthrix in a subject. Furthermore, genus-specific probes are also provided for Aspergillus, Fusarium and Mucor, in addition to an all-fungus nucleic acid probe.

Abstract: The present invention provides apparatus and methods in which variable delay is provided for channel tracking. In particular, a demodulator having both a hard output (or symbol estimate) and a soft output (or indication of the quality of the symbol estimate) is coupled to a channel tracker. The channel tracker provides a channel estimate used by the demodulator, in part, to correct for fading. The channel tracker updates the channel estimate based on the symbol estimates from the demodulator and the received signal. However, when the soft output indicates a low confidence in the symbol estimate, the symbol estimate is not used to update the channel estimate. This is accomplished by providing a variable delay to the channel estimate calculation performed by the channel tracker depending on the number of consecutive suspect symbol estimates.

Abstract: The nucleic acid sequence encoding the internal transcribed spacer 2 region of Candida, the organism causing candidiasis, for various Candida species. Nucleic acid molecules useful as probes for detecting Candida species are described. The nucleic acid molecules are useful in methods for the detection and diagnosis of Candida infection in a sample or subject.

Abstract: The present invention provides a rapid method for identifying species of Candida. Identification is through the use of a non-conserved regions of the ITS2 region flanked by highly conserved functional domains. Detection of members of the Candida and Aspergillus genera is enhanced by the detection of genus-specific regions of the 5.8S rRNA gene. The present invention provides isolated nucleic acids that selectively hybridize to the fungal genus-specific 5.8S rRNA region, and to the species-specific ITS2 region. The invention provides for nucleic acid sequences for use as selective probes for fungal genus-specific probes and as Candida species-specific probes. The present invention provides methods for the use of the Candida species-specific probes that allow the detection and identification of the individual species in biological samples.

Abstract: Provided is an isolated double-stranded nucleic acid consisting essentially of the nucleotide sequences defined in the Sequence Listing by SEQ ID Nos:5-9. These are the ITS2 sequences for C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata and C. krusei. A method of diagnosing systemic candidiasis in a subject is also provided. The method comprises the steps of: (a) collecting blood from the subject into tubes containing detergent, polypropylene glycol, sodium poyantholesulfonate, and sodium ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid; (b) lysing Candida cells using ZYMOLYASE.RTM.-100T.TM.

Abstract: Provided is an isolated double-stranded nucleic acid consisting essentially of the nucleotide sequences defined in the Sequence Listing by SEQ ID Nos: 5-9. These are the ITS2 sequences for C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata and C. krusei. A method of diagnosing systemic candidiasis in a subject is also provided. The method comprises the steps of: (a) collecting blood from the subject into tubes containing detergent, polypropylene glycol, sodium poyantholesulfonate, and sodium ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid; (b) lysing Candida cells using ZYMOLYASE.RTM.-100T with agitation; (c) extracting and precipitating the DNA from the lysed cells; (d) amplifying the precipitated DNA using universal fungal primer pairs derived from the internal transcribed spacer regions of the Candida ribosomal DNA; and (e) detecting amplified DNA from Candida by hybridizing the amplified DNA with a probe that selectively hybridizes with Candida DNA, the presence of amplified DNA indicating systemic candidiasis.

Abstract: Provided is an isolated double-stranded nucleic acid consisting essentially of the nucleotide sequences defined in the Sequence Listing by SEQ ID Nos:5-9. These are the ITS2 sequences for C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata and C. krusei. A method of diagnosing systemic candidiasis in a subject is also provided. The method comprises the steps of: (a) collecting blood from the subject into tubes containing detergent, polypropylene glycol, sodium poyantholesulfonate, and sodium ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid; (b) lysing Candida cells using ZYMOLYASE.RTM.-100T with agitation; (c) extracting and precipitating the DNA from the lysed cells; (d) amplifying the precipitated DNA using universal fungal primer pairs derived from the internal transcribed spacer regions of the Candida ribosomal DNA; and (e) detecting amplified DNA from Candida by hybridizing the amplified DNA with a probe that selectively hybridizes with Candida DNA, the presence of amplified DNA indicating systemic candidiasis.

Abstract: Provided is an isolated double-stranded nucleic acid consisting essentially of the nucleotide sequences defined in the Sequence Listing by SEQ ID NOs: 5-9. These are the ITS2 sequences for C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata and C. krusei. A method of diagnosing systemic candidiasis in a subject is also provided. The method comprises the steps of: (a) collecting blood from the subject into tubes containing detergent, polypropylene glycol, sodium poyantholesulfonate, and sodium ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid; (b) lysing Candida cells using ZYMOLYASE.RTM.-100T with agitation; (c) extracting and precipitating the DNA from the lysed cells; (d) amplifying the precipitated DNA using universal fungal primer pairs derived from the internal transcribed spacer regions of the Candida ribosomal DNA; and (e) detecting amplified DNA from Candida by hybridizing the amplified DNA with a probe that selectively hybridizes with Candida DNA, the presence of amplified DNA indicating systemic candidiasis.

Abstract: Provided is an isolated double-stranded nucleic acid consisting essentially of the nucleotide sequence defined in the Sequence Listing by SEQ ID NO:5. This is the C. albicans ITS2 sequence and includes a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence that is specific for Candida albicans. Further examples of an isolated double stranded nucleic acid of the present invention consist essentially of the nucleotide sequences defined in the Sequence Listing by SEQ ID NOs:6-9. These are the ITS2 sequences for C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata and C. krusei. A method of diagnosing systemic candidiasis in a subject is also provided. The method comprises the steps of: (a) collecting blood from the subject into tubes containing detergent, polypropylene glycol, sodium polyanetholesulfonate, and sodium ethylene diamine.RTM. tetraacetic acid; (b) lysing Candida cells using ZYMOLYASE.RTM.