{
  "abstract": "The gut eukaryome, comprising the protists and fungi that fall within the strict definition of the microbiota together with the macroscopic helminths and arthropods that lie outside it, is under-detected by clinical microscopy and by short-read 16S/18S sequencing, yet is increasingly implicated in inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, including psoriasis. Existing 18S V4/V9 primers either lack cross-kingdom universality or fail to discriminate closely related species. We designed and evaluated broad-range PCR primers anchored in conserved blocks of nuclear 18S and 28S ribosomal genes, flanking a 1.0–3.5 kb cassette spanning the 3′-end of 18S, ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2, and the 5′-end of 28S. Stool samples from 91 plaque-psoriasis patients and 92 matched controls were collected; a subset of 32 samples was profiled by Oxford Nanopore amplicon sequencing using the EPI2ME wf-metagenomics pipeline (Kraken + Bracken) against the NCBI core_nt database. The gut eukaryome was dominated by Ascomycota and Protista, with 51 species-level entries assigned to Candida (37 named binomials), 27 entries assigned to Blastocystis (12 subtype-labelled entries), 20 entries assigned to Malassezia (15 named species), and 37 entries assigned to Cladosporium recovered from a single PCR tube. Blastocystis hominis was detected in 37.5% of subjects (≥50-read threshold; mean 7.5% in carriers), with concurrent detection of 12 subtype-labelled entries (ST1-ST4, ST7, ST10-ST15, ST24) and 11 named isolate entries. Psoriasis-relevant Candida species, such as C. albicans (34.4%), C. tropicalis (34.4%), C. parapsilosis (31.2%), and Malassezia restricta (9.4%; up to 12.1%) were co-detected. Long-read sequencing of a broad-range 18S -28S rRNA gene cassette provides a single-tube workflow for the simultaneous recovery of fungal, protistan, and plant-derived eukaryotic sequences from human stool.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki , ,",
    "Center for Life Sciences, National Laboratory Astana, Nazarbayev University , ,"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ruslan Kalendar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Asset Daniyarov"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Ulykbek Kairov"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Samat Kozhakhmetov"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Dauren Yerezhepov"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Bakytgul Yermekbayeva"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Dos Sarbassov"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Almagul Kushugulova"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f293p5qvany4t.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fmicb.2026.1904425",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13664300/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "f293p5qvany4t",
  "issns": [
    "1664-302X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13664300",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Gut microbiota and health"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214930966",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13664300/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13664300",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-30",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f293p5qvany4t.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:21Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13664300",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13664300"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:12Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fmicb.2026.1904425",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1904425/full"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Gut microbiota and health",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Targeted long-read eukaryotic profiling of human stool by broad-range 18S–28S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing on Oxford Nanopore Technologies: a proof-of-concept study",
  "title_text": "Targeted long-read eukaryotic profiling of human stool by broad-range 18S–28S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing on Oxford Nanopore Technologies: a proof-of-concept study",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:12Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f293p5qvany4t",
  "venue": "Frontiers in microbiology",
  "versions": []
}