Identification of yeast species by ITS analysis

Applications

The identification of isolated yeast contaminants.

Technology

Yeast species can be identified by analysis of the ITS region within yeast ribosomal DNA. This method, which is cheaper to perform than DNA sequencing (See above), involves PCR amplification of the ITS region of the genome followed by digestion using restriction enzymes. The ITS region of DNA is known to vary in size and composition between yeast species. Consequently, the size and number of the resulting DNA fragments can be compared to a database comprising more than 200 species of yeast, leading to identification.