Journal of Fungi Review Molecular Tools for Detection and Identification of Paracoccidioides Species: Current Status and Future Perspectives Breno Gonçalves Pinheiro 1 , Rosane Christine Hahn 2,3, Zoilo Pires de Camargo 1,4 and Anderson Messias Rodrigues 1,* 1 Laboratory of Emerging Fungal Pathogens, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology, Discipline of Cellular Biology, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo 04023062, Brazil;
[email protected] (B.G.P.);
[email protected] (Z.P.d.C.) 2 Laboratory of Mycology/Research, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso 78060900, Brazil;
[email protected] 3 Federal University of Mato Grosso, Júlio Muller University Hospital, Mato Grosso 78048902, Brazil 4 Department of Medicine, Discipline of infectious Diseases, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo 04023062, Brazil * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +55-1155764551 (ext. 1540) Received: 13 October 2020; Accepted: 5 November 2020; Published: 18 November 2020 Abstract: Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a mycotic disease caused by the Paracoccidioides species, a group of thermally dimorphic fungi that grow in mycelial form at 25 ◦C and as budding yeasts when cultured at 37 ◦C or when parasitizing the host tissues. PCM occurs in a large area of Latin America, and the most critical regions of endemicity are in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. The clinical diagnosis of PCM needs to be confirmed through laboratory tests. Although classical laboratory techniques provide valuable information due to the presence of pathognomonic forms of Paracoccidioides spp., nucleic acid-based diagnostics gradually are replacing or complementing culture-based, biochemical, and immunological assays in routine microbiology laboratory practice.