Routine Identification of Candida Albicans: Current Methods and a New Medium

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
19 strains of Candida albicans, roughly one-third of strains isolated from oral thrush, skin lesions, or the feces of newborn infants, failed consistently to produce mycelium and chlamydospores on rice infusion agar, while the other two-thirds gave satisfactory results. In an attempt at identification, the 19 “recalcitrant” strains, as well as 6 non-pathogenic Candida species, were grown on various media recommended for gross or microscopic identification of C. albicans. The best results were obtained with a medium newly described here and prepared from “cream of rice,” agar, and Tween 80 in tap water. All of 17 strains of C. albicans tested readily formed chlamydospores and mycelium on this medium. The non-pathogenic Candidas formed mycelium only. It appears that neither vitamin, trace metal, mineral, or amino acid deficiency, nor the age of the culture are factors that inhibit chlamydo-spore formation in certain strains of Candida albicans. The writer is indebted to Dr. Lazar Rosenthal for his kind advice and valuable suggestions in the preparation of this report.

This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit: