Development of a real-time fungal species identification method and clinical fungal metagenomics

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K08505
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 54030:Infectious disease medicine-related
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Motooka Daisuke 大阪大学, 微生物病研究所, 講師 (10636830)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: メタゲノミクス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research focuses on elucidating the causes of idiopathic diseases by employing metagenomic analysis for the comprehensive and rapid detection and identification of pathogens in clinical specimens. A particular emphasis is placed on the challenging task of fungal detection and precise species identification. To address this, we developed a novel methodology for fungal species and strain identification. Specifically, we established a species identification technique utilizing the full-length ribosomal RNA (rRNA) of fungi, which demonstrated superior accuracy and efficiency compared to the traditional ITS1 region-based analysis. Furthermore, the applicability of this advanced method to clinical specimens was evaluated using the DNA from T. asahi positive specimens.

Free Research Field

ゲノム解析

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

新興・再興感染症は、いつどこで発生するか予想することは難しく、発生した場合に早期に診断、治療を行う体制を構築するかが重要である。その対策として、網羅的に病原体を探索できるメタゲノム解析法(クリニカルメタゲノミクス)は病原体に関する前情報が不要であり有用である。本研究では、真菌のrRNA全長を用いた種同定法を構築し、従来のITS1やITS2領域を使用した解析より正確かつ迅速な同定ができるようになった。