Highly polymorphic microsatellite for identification of Candida albicans strains

Area of Science:

• Medical Microbiology
• Molecular Biology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Candida albicans is a common human pathogen.
• Accurate strain differentiation is crucial for epidemiological studies and understanding infection dynamics.
• Existing genotyping methods can be complex or less efficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel microsatellite locus (CAI) for its ability to differentiate Candida albicans strains.
• To assess the discriminatory power and reproducibility of the CAI marker.
• To apply the CAI marker in studying recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis and identifying potential reservoirs.

Main Methods:

• PCR genotyping using a fluorescence-labeled primer on 114 Candida albicans strains.
• Analysis of allelic and genotypic diversity.
• Testing for species specificity and mutation rate.
• Application to clinical isolates from recurrent infections and different body sites.

Main Results:

• The CAI microsatellite locus demonstrated high discriminatory power (0.97) with 26 alleles and 44 genotypes in 73 isolates.
• CAI is species-specific for Candida albicans and has a low mutation rate.
• The marker identified clonal populations in recurrent vulvovaginal infections and linked vaginal and rectal isolates, suggesting the rectum as a reservoir.

Conclusions:

• The CAI microsatellite is a simple, highly efficient, and reproducible tool for differentiating Candida albicans strains.
• It is suitable for large-scale epidemiological studies, even with degraded samples.
• CAI aids in understanding C. albicans infection transmission and reservoirs.