Molecular characterization by PCR-fingerprinting of Candida dubliniensis strains isolated from two HIV-positive patients in Spain.
Six Candida dubliniensis isolates were recovered from two HIV-infected individuals in the course of a prospective study of recurrent oral candidosis among HIV-positive patients in Spain. Candida albicans strains as well as non-albicans strains were also obtained from these two patients. C. dubliniensis strains were germ-tube-positive and produced abundant chlamydospores. Fingerprinting the genomic DNAs of these six C. dubliniensis with the C. albicans-specific probe 27A as well as karyotyping was performed to confirm the identification of these isolates. Further analysis of their genomic DNAs was performed by PCR-fingerprinting with the core sequence of phage M13, and they exhibited species-specific multilocus band patterns, clearly distinct from those of C. albicans isolates analyzed in this study and in a previous one (Diaz-Guerra 1997). Intraspecies variation was also seen among PCR patterns yielded by C. dubliniensis isolates from different patients. Although few strains have been analyzed, the use of this PCR-fingerprinting procedure is a promising tool for further epidemiologic studies with C. dubliniensis. The isolation of C. dubliniensis from Spanish HIV-infected patients contributes to the idea of widespread geographic distribution of this species.
Diaz-Guerra
T M
TM
Unidad de Micología, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
Mellado
E
E
Cuenca Estrella
M
M
Laguna
F
F
Rodriguez-Tudela
J L
JL
D002175:Candida / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011446:Prospective Studies