Evaluation of a commercial medium for identification ofCandida species

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Abstract
CHROMagar Candida (CHROMagar, France) was evaluated as a medium for the presumptive identification and isolation of yeasts using 1,537 isolates of medically important yeasts, including 970Candida albicans, 165Candida parapsilosis, 131Candida glabrata, 62Candida guilliermondii, 35Candida krusei, 32Candida tropicalis, 31Rhodotorula rubra, 23Trichosporon spp. (17Trichosporon beigelii), 17Candida famata, 16Candida pelliculosa, 10Pichia etchelsii, 10Saccharomyces cerevisiae, 8Candida lusitaniae, 7 Cryptococcus spp., and 20 isolates of otherCandida spp. After 48 h of incubation at 37°C, the sensitivity and specificity were, respectively, 99% and 100% forCandida albicans, 93.8% and 99.1 % forCandida tropicalis, and 100% and 100% forCandida krusei. In addition to colony color, other colony characteristics were important for identification of some species, such as rough colonies inCandida krusei isolates or the halo around the colonies ofCandida tropicalis. A great variety of colors was observed among species other thanCandida albicans, Candida tropicalis, andCandida krusei. For identification purposes, CHROMagar Candida medium has an accuracy similar to that of germ-tube tests and chlamydospore development tests forCandida albicans and to that of the ATB ID32C kit (API, bioMérieux, France) forCandida tropicalis andCandida krusei.