title: Genetic diversity among Korean Candida albicans bloodstream isolates: assessment by multilocus sequence typing and restriction endonuclease analysis of genomic DNA by use of BssHII.
abstract: Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) has been successfully applied to the epidemiology of Candida albicans isolates not only within the hospital setting but also in multiple locations nationwide. We performed MLST to investigate the genetic relatedness among bloodstream infection (BSI) isolates of C. albicans recovered from 10 Korean hospitals over a 12-month period. The 156 isolates yielded 112 unique diploid sequence types (DSTs). While 95 DSTs were each derived from a single isolate, 17 DSTs were shared by 61 isolates (39.1%). Interestingly, 111 (71.1%) isolates clustered within previously known clades, and 29 (18.6%) clustered within a new clade that includes strains of Asian origin previously typed as singletons. This MLST study was complemented by restriction endonuclease analysis of genomic DNA using BssHII (REAG-B) in order to evaluate whether strains with identical DSTs and originating from the same hospital corresponded to nosocomial clusters. Importantly, only those isolates with a strong epidemiological relationship showed ≥95% identical REAG-B types. Our results indicate that REAG-B typing can be complementary to MLST but should be limited to the investigation of isolates of identical DSTs and when interhuman transmission is suspected.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, South Korea. shinjh@chonnam.ac.kr
authors.forename: Jong Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Marie-Elisabeth
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bougnoux
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: d'Enfert
authors.forename: Soo Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang-Jin
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Min Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Joo
authors.forename: Kyungwon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mi-Na
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hye Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Myung Geun
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Soon Pal
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Dong Wook
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Ryang
mesh_terms: D002176:Candida albicans / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D016469:Fungemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal