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Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Whole Genome Sequencing of Candida glabrata for Detection of Markers of Antifungal Drug Resistance
Published on: December 28, 2017
Opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida glabrata circulates between humans and yellow-legged gulls
Mohammed Hashim Al-Yasiri1, Anne-Cécile Normand2, Coralie L'Ollivier1,2
1Aix-Marseille Univ, IP-TPT UMR MD3, 13885 Marseille, France.
Abstract:
The opportunistic pathogenic yeast Candida glabrata is a component of the mycobiota of both humans and yellow-legged gulls that is prone to develop fluconazole resistance. Whether gulls are a reservoir of the yeast and facilitate the dissemination of human C. glabrata strains remains an open question. In this study, MLVA genotyping highlighted the lack of genetic structure of 190 C. glabrata strains isolated from either patients in three hospitals or fecal samples collected from gull breeding colonies located in five distinct areas along the French Mediterranean littoral. Fluconazole-resistant isolates were evenly distributed between both gull and human populations. These findings demonstrate that gulls are a reservoir of this species and facilitate the diffusion of C. glabrata and indirect transmission to human or animal hosts via environmental contamination. This eco-epidemiological view, which can be applied to other vertebrate host species, broadens our perspective regarding the reservoirs and dissemination patterns of antifungal-resistant human pathogenic yeast.
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