Microscopic morphology showing typical single-celled, hyaline, rectangular to barrel-shaped, alternate arthroconidia. Photo by The University of Adelaide

This genome was sequenced by the Broad Institute.

Uncinocarpus reesii is morphologically very similar to Coccidioides species and sequence analysis indicates that it is one of the closest known relative of Coccidioides. The sequence divergence of the 18S ribosomal gene between C. immitis and U. reesii is approximately 0.7%, reflecting approximately 20-30 million years evolutionary distance (Bowman, White et al. 1996). Coccidioides species cause serious and sometimes fatal disease (coccidiomycosis) in otherwise healthy people. The U.S. government regulates both C. posadasii and C. immitis under the Select Agent Program as potential bioterrorist threats. For this reason, Coccidioides is an active target of molecular genetic and clinical investigation. The genome sequences of both C. posadasii and C. immitis are now available. However, unlike these Coccidioides species, U. reesii is nonpathogenic. Having the sequence from these three closely related fungi will allow a comparative approach to the study of pathogenesis in Coccidioides.