Comparison of standard phenotypic assays with a PCR method to discriminate Candida albicans and C. dubliniensis

In 1995, Candida dubliniensis was described as a new species in the genus Candida. Its close relationship to C. albicans has proved problematic in the identification of C. dubliniensis in clinical specimens. The objective of this study was to determine if reproducible differentiation between both species can be obtained by phenotypic assays. Therefore, 100 strains from 86 patients with the ability to produce chlamydospores were examined with different methods including API ID 32 C, colour development on CHROMagar, chlamydospore formation on Staib agar, growth at different temperatures and germ tube formation at 39 degrees C. Additionally, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used as gold standard. Six of the investigated strains were C. dubliniensis. The results suggest that there is still no single phenotypic method satisfactory to distinguish between C. albicans and C. dubliniensis.