Background: The Candida parapsilosis complex species has emerged as an important cause of human disease. The molecular identification of C. parapsilosis isolates at the species level can be helpful for epidemiological studies and then for the establishment of appropriate therapies and prophylactic measures.
Methods: The present study was undertaken to analyze 13 short tandem repeat (STR) markers (7 minisatellites and 6 microsatellites) in a global set of 182 C. parapsilosis complex isolates from different origins including invasive and superficial clinical sites.
Results: Upon the analysis of 182 strains of C. parapsilosis complex species, 10-17 haplotypes were detected for each minisatellite marker. The combination of 7 minisatellite markers yielded 121 different genotypes with a 0.995 D value. Upon the analysis of 114 isolates (68 from invasive infections and 46 from superficial infections), 21-32 genotypes were detected for each microsatellite marker. The combination of all 13 markers yielded 96 different genotypes among 114 isolates with a high degree of discrimination (0.997 D value). The same multilocus genotype was shared by isolates recovered from some patients and from the hand of theirs correspondent healthcare worker. For another patient, the same multilocus genotype of C. metapsilosis was detected in blood and skin confirming that candidemia usually arises as an endogenous infection following prior colonization.
Conclusions: These STR markers are a valuable tool for the differentiation of C. parapsilosis complex strains, to support epidemiological investigations especially studies of strain relatedness and pathways of transmission.
Keywords: Candida metapsilosis; Candida orthopsilosis; Candida parapsilosis; Genetic diversity; Genotyping; STR.