This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by James, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Reiss, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by James, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Reiss, E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2000, p. 3612-3618, Vol. 38, No. 10
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0

Use of a Repetitive DNA Probe To Type Clinical and Environmental Isolates of Aspergillus flavus from a Cluster of Cutaneous Infections in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Michael J. James,1 Brent A. Lasker,1 Michael M. McNeil,1 Mark Shelton,2 David W. Warnock,1 and Errol Reiss1,*

Mycotic Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia,1 and Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, Texas2

Received 3 January 2000/Returned for modification 18 March 2000/Accepted 22 July 2000

Aspergillus flavus is second to A. fumigatus as a cause of invasive aspergillosis, but no standard method exists for molecular typing of strains from human sources. A repetitive DNA sequence cloned from A. flavus and subcloned into a pUC19 vector, pAF28, was used to type 18 isolates from diverse clinical, environmental, and geographic sources. The restriction fragment length polymorphisms generated with EcoRI- or PstI-digested genomic DNA and probed with digoxigenin-labeled pAF28 revealed complete concordance between patterns. Eighteen distinct fingerprints were observed. The probe was used to investigate two cases of cutaneous A. flavus infection in low-birth-weight infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Both infants were transported by the same ambulance and crew to the NICU on the same day. A. flavus strains of the same genotype were isolated from both infants, from a roll of tape used to fasten their umbilical catheters, from a canvas bag used to store the tape in the ambulance, and from the tape tray in the ambulance isolette. These cases highlight the need to consider exposures in critically ill neonates that might occur during their transport to the NICU and for stringent infection control practices. The hybridization profiles of strains from a second cluster of invasive A. flavus infections in two pediatric hematology-oncology patients revealed a genotype common to strains from a definite case patient and a health care worker. A probable case patient was infected with a strain with a genotype different from that of the strain from the definite case patient but highly related to that of an environmental isolate. The high degree of discrimination and reproducibility obtained with the pAF28 probe underscores its utility for typing clinical and environmental isolates of A. flavus.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, N.E., Mailstop G-11, Atlanta, GA 30333. Phone: (404) 639-3374. Fax: (404) 639-3546. E-mail: err2{at}cdc.gov.


Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2000, p. 3612-3618, Vol. 38, No. 10
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Hedayati, M. T., Pasqualotto, A. C., Warn, P. A., Bowyer, P., Denning, D. W. (2007). Aspergillus flavus: human pathogen, allergen and mycotoxin producer. Microbiology 153: 1677-1692 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chen, J., Li, H., Li, R., Bu, D., Wan, Z. (2005). Mutations in the cyp51A gene and susceptibility to itraconazole in Aspergillus fumigatus serially isolated from a patient with lung aspergilloma. J Antimicrob Chemother 55: 31-37 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • McAlpin, C.E., Horn, B.W., Wicklow, D.T. (2005). DNA fingerprinting analysis of vegetative compatibility groups in Aspergillus caelatus. Mycologia 97: 70-76 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lasker, B. A. (2002). Evaluation of Performance of Four Genotypic Methods for Studying the Genetic Epidemiology of Aspergillus fumigatus Isolates. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40: 2886-2892 [Abstract] [Full Text]