Isolation and molecular characterization of species isolated from pigeon nests and .

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

species are pathogenic and non-pathogenic basidiomycete yeasts that are found widely in the environment. Based on phenotypic methods, this genus has many species; however, its taxonomy is presently being re-evaluated by modern techniques. The species complex includes two sibling taxa of and . We aimed to investigate the possible distribution of species in pigeon nests and trees in Ilam, Iran, using molecular techniques.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Two hundred and seventy-four specimens were collected from pigeon nests and trees during 2016-2017. All the specimens were sub-cultured on Sabouraud Glucose Agar with chloramphenicol and bird seed agar. For molecular identification, the ITS15.8SITS2 rDNA region was amplified using the first and fourth internal transcribed spacer (ITS1 and ITS4, respectively) primers. The purified products were applied for cycle sequencing reactions in forward direction with ITS1 primer. The obtained results were analyzed with Chromas 2.3.

RESULTS

Thirty-three out of 186 cultures (17.7%) and 11 out of 88 cultures (12.5%) were positive among pigeon nest and tree specimens, respectively. (17.2%), (3.4%), (3.4%), (3.4%), and (3.4%) were isolated from pigeon nests, and (25%) was the only species isolated from trees.

CONCLUSION

The presence of pigeons and trees in the vicinity of some particular places such as rest homes and hospitals should be considered as a risk factor for the immunocompromised population.