ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades, the number of immunocompromised patients has continued to rise globally, promoting a dramatic increase in the incidence and variety of fungal infections (1-3). As a result of this mycological crisis, there is a pressing need to improve the accuracy and speed of the diagnosis, to identify the sources of individual cases and outbreaks, and to understand the genetics and distribution of populations of pathogenic fungi. As described in Part 1 of this book, the identification of mycotic species and strains is often problematic. Established methods of classification rely on phenotypic differences in morphology and physiology, and when possible, mating. For many taxa, definitive phenotypic features are difficult to observe or are highly variable. Hence there is considerable scientific and clinical interest in molecular approaches to the identification of species and strains of pathogenic fungi. In recent years there has been substantial progress in the development of innovative methods to analyze organisms at the genomic level. In addition to the practical benefits, the application of molecular methods to pathogenic fungi has reaped much new information about the epidemiology and evolution of human mycoses. Consequently there are compelling reasons to develop molecular methods to identify various taxa of pathogenic fungi.
