Kodamaea ohmeri isolates from patients in a university hospital: identification, antifungal susceptibility, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis.
Data on clinical isolates of Kodamaea (Pichia) ohmeri, an emerging fungal pathogen, are scarce. Over the past 5 years, we identified yeast isolates from nine patients with fungemia as K. ohmeri by using the API 20C system. Here, we reanalyzed these isolates first by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) regions and then by growing the isolates on CHROMagar Candida medium and subjecting them to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Based on their ITS2 sequences, six of the nine isolates were confirmed as K. ohmeri, while the others were identified as Candida haemulonii (n = 2) and Candida parapsilosis (n = 1). PFGE karyotyping of the K. ohmeri isolates revealed similar major bands, and their colonies showed a characteristic color change from pink to blue when grown on CHROMagar Candida medium for more than 48 h. For K. ohmeri, the ranges of MICs of fluconazole, voriconazole, caspofungin, and micafungin were 2 to 32 mug/ml, 0.03 to 0.5 mug/ml, 0.125 to 0.25 mug/ml, and 0.03 to 0.06 mug/ml, respectively. Restriction endonuclease analysis of genomic NotI-digested DNA (REAG-N) from isolates from different patients produced unique patterns, suggesting that the fungemia had occurred sporadically. This study determined that ITS2 sequence data, PFGE karyotypes, and CHROMagar Candida chromogenic culture medium are reliable diagnostic tools for identifying K. ohmeri while REAG-N is useful for genotyping the clinical isolates of K. ohmeri.
Lee
Jin Sol
JS
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, 8 Hakdong Dongku, Gwangju 501-757, South Korea.
Shin
Jong Hee
JH
Kim
Mi-Na
MN
Jung
Sook-In
SI
Park
Kyung Hwa
KH
Cho
Duck
D
Kee
Seung Jung
SJ
Shin
Myung Geun
MG
Suh
Soon Pal
SP
Ryang
Dong Wook
DW
D000362:Agar; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002863:Chromogenic Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D003470:Culture Media; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000032:analysis; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016469:Fungemia / Q000382:microbiology; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques; D009181:Mycoses / Q000382:microbiology*; D010843:Pichia / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004718:Saccharomycetales / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D000935:Antifungal Agents; D002863:Chromogenic Compounds; D003470:Culture Media; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D000362:Agar