Even if an organism can survive various transport conditions and will be recovered in available culture systems with reliability, identification protocols may not provide clear-cut differentiation, based on phenotypic tests and characteristics. Sequencing techniques are increasingly utilized for certain classes of organisms. Good examples are the aerobic, non-spore-forming gram-positive rods, including Nocardia, Corynebacterium, and related genera, as well as mycology isolates.
A more routinely encountered application occurs in virology. Molecular methods allow for efficient typing of herpes simplex (type I versus type II) and subtyping of specimens positive for influenza A.
