Basic techniques for the identification of fungal pathogens

Abstract

Within this workshop we will be introduced to the identification of fungi. Currently it is standard practice that fungi are identified based on morphology. The culture, but especially the asexual and sexual spore-baring structures are important for identification. If such structures are lacking in the fungus you want to identify, it will be almost impossible to correctly identify it to the species level. Molecular identification is often necessary. In this workingshop we will demonstrate how a fungus can be identified based on sequences of the ITS region. This workshop will focus on freely available online tools, which will enable all labs able to sequence, to identify their isolates to the species level