Bead Mill Homogenization Streamlines Dermatomycoses Organism Identification by Drastically Reducing Sample Preparation Time

Pathogenic fungi, i.e. dermatophytes, are responsible for superficial infections known as dermatophytosis, which can occur in nails, skin, and hair of humans and animals. In addition to dermatophytes, non-dermatophyte molds and yeasts can cause dermatomycosis. Though less of a risk in healthy individuals, the presence of these fungi can be severe in individuals with depleted or compromised immune systems. Therefore, research is being carried out to help optimize sample prep workflows and advance technologies that would help expedite species-specific pathogen identification.

Aligned with this goal, this application note explores the efficiency of utilizing a semi-automated bead mill homogenizer in lieu of an overnight digestion in releasing nucleic acids from nail samples for downstream molecular genetic identification of dermatophytes, yeasts, and molds using the EUROArray dermatomycosis system. Results indicated good concordance between both research methodologies and significant time reduction in turn-around-time (TAT) when incorporating the bead mill homogenizer into the workflow as opposed to an overnight incubation.