Patent ID: 7427472

Claim:
A method of detecting the presence of any of the dimorphic fungal pathogens H. capsulatum, B. dermatitidis, C. immitis, P. brasiliensis, and/or P. marneffei in a sample, comprising the steps of: contacting the sample with a dimorphic probe, wherein the dimorphic probe specifically detects the dimorphic fungal pathogens H. capsulatum, B. dermatitidis, C. immitis, P. brasiliensis, and P. marneffei, and comprises at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 4 or at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of nucleotides 1-25 of any of SEQ ID NOs: 14-17, wherein under the conditions employed in the contacting step, said dimorphic probe hybridizes to ITS 2 nucleic acids of each of H. capsulatum, B. dermatitidis, C. immitis, P. brasiliensis, and P. marneffei if said ITS 2 nucleic acids are present in the sample, and wherein under the conditions employed in the contacting step, said dimorphic probe does not hybridize to ITS 2 nucleic acids of each of S. schenckii, C. neoformans, C. albicans, and P. carinii; and detecting hybridization between the dimorphic probe and fungal ITS 2 nucleic acids present in the sample, wherein detection of hybridization indicates the presence of one or more of said dimorphic fungal pathogens in the sample.