Oligonucleotide fingerprinting of rRNA genes for analysis of fungal community composition

Thorough assessments of fungal diversity are currently hindered by technological limitations. Here we describe a new method for identifying fungi, oligonucleotide fingerprinting of rRNA genes (OFRG). ORFG sorts arrayed rRNA gene (ribosomal DNA [rDNA]) clones into taxonomic clusters through a series of hybridization experiments, each using a single oligonucleotide probe. A simulated annealing algorithm was used to design an OFRG probe set for fungal rDNA. Analysis of 1,536 fungal rDNA clones derived from soil generated 455 clusters. A pairwise sequence analysis showed that clones with average sequence identities of 99.2% were grouped into the same cluster. To examine the accuracy of the taxonomic identities produced by this OFRG experiment, we determined the nucleotide sequences for 117 clones distributed throughout the tree. For all but two of these clones, the taxonomic identities generated by this OFRG experiment were consistent with those generated by a nucleotide sequence analysis. Eighty-eight percent of the clones were affiliated with Ascomycola, while 12% belonged to Basidiontycota. A large fraction of the clones were affiliated with the genera Fusarium (404 clones) and Racihorskiomyces (176 clones). Smaller assemblages of clones had high sequence identities to the Alternaria, Ascoholus, Chaetomium, Cryptococcus, and Rhizoctonia clades.