title: A novel, broadly applicable approach to isolation of fungi in diverse growth media.
abstract: Creatinine (CRN) is a vertebrate metabolic waste product normally found in blood and urine. Previous work demonstrated that the hydrochloride salt of creatinine (CRN-HCl) acted as a potent inhibitor of bacterial replication. Creatinine hydrochloride does not inhibit the growth of yeasts or molds (i.e. fungi), making it a potentially useful addition to growth media to facilitate isolation of environmental or clinically relevant fungal species. Sabouraud dextrose agar is the current medium of choice for detection and isolation of fungi although it does not offer optimal nutritional requirements for some fungi and can permit growth of bacteria which may subsequently inhibit fungal growth and/or obscure fungal isolation. We show that CRN-HCl effectively suppresses bacterial growth in either liquid or solid agar media while allowing outgrowth of slower growing fungi using either experimentally prepared samples or environmental samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 986495 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-6495, USA.
authors.forename: Shane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smithee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 986495 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-6495, USA.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tracy
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68102, USA.
authors.forename: Kristen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Drescher
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68102, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Pitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 986495 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-6495, USA. Electronic address: tmcdonal@unmc.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McDonald
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D003404:Creatinine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D005658:Fungi / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003470:Culture Media; D003404:Creatinine
keywords: Creatinine; Fungi; Sabouraud dextrose agar