Clinical isolates of Candida guilliermondii include Candida fermentati

Clinical isolates of Candida guilliermondii that were investigated by isoenzyme and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analyses represented two distinct species. The two species were distinguished on the basis of delayed fermentation of galactose. The larger group of isolates was closely related to the anamorph C. guilliermondii ATCC 6260T (T = type strain) and its teleomorph, Yamadazyma (= Pichia) guilliermondii ATCC 46036T. The remaining group, whose members fermented galactose, was very similar to Candida fermentati CBS 2022, which had for many years been placed in synonymy with C. guilliermondii. Three additional groups were represented by individual strains; these strains included C. guilliermondii var. soya ATCC 20216, which was found to represent Yamadazyma ohmeri. The type strain of Y. guilliermondii is redefined.