COMPARISON OF CODING AND SPACER REGION SEQUENCES OF CHROMOSOMAL RIBOSOMAL-RNA-CODING GENES OF 2 SEQUEVARS OF PNEUMOCYSTIS-CARINII

Two distinct sequevars, denoted Pc1 and Pc2, of the opportunistic path ogen Pneumocystis carinii have been previously identified based on the sequence of their 26S rRNA genes, the location of group I self-splici ng introns and pulsed field electrophoretic patterns of chromosomal DN A. This study shows that the sequences of 16S and 5.8S rRNA genes also vary between these sequevars, and that greater variation was seen in the internal transcribed spacer regions. Polymerase chain reaction and restriction analysis can distinguish between these sequevars.