title: Comparison of Candida albicans strain types among isolates from three countries.
abstract: Multi-locus sequence typing data for 217 Candida albicans isolates cultured since 1990 from blood and vaginal samples in Japan, England/Wales and the USA were analysed for geographically related variations. While no significant differences were found between distributions of diploid sequence types (DSTs) in blood vs. vaginal isolates, there were highly significant differences in the clade distributions of isolates from the three geographical sources. Clade 2 strains were predominantly isolates from England/Wales, while clade 3 strains came mainly from the USA. The isolates from Japan were highly prevalent among strains in clades 5-17, and provided the first example seen so far in C. albicans of an amino acid encoded by three separate codons. Within clade 1, the most commonly encountered clade for isolates from all three regions, 15 Japanese isolates and 1 English isolate formed a separate clonal cluster in eBURST analysis. A similarly well demarcated clonal cluster rich in isolates from Japan was also found among the clade 4 strains. The data suggest C. albicans undergoes localized evolution, but human movements and person-to-person spread considerably blur the boundaries of such evolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 6068507, Japan.
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takakura
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ichiyama
authors.forename: Judith M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bain
authors.forename: Amanda D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: Mette D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: Duncan J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Neil A R
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Gow
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Odds
mesh_terms: D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000382:microbiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods; D017385:Sequence Homology; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal