Evaluation of Mueller-Hinton-agar as a simple medium for the germ tube production of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis

Summary Candida albicans is the most frequently isolated yeast species from clinical specimens. A classical rapid presumptive differentiation from non‐albicans species is based on its ability to produce germ tubes after incubation in human serum. The only non‐albicans Candida species producing germ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Mycoses Vol. 51; no. 3; pp. 205 - 208
Main Authors:	Rimek, Dagmar, Fehse, Brigitte, Göpel, Petra
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-05-2008
Subjects:	Agar Candida - classification Candida - growth & development Candida - isolation & purification Candida albicans Candida albicans - growth & development Candida albicans - isolation & purification Candida dubliniensis Culture Media - chemistry Feces - microbiology Germ tube test Humans Mueller-Hinton-agar Mycological Typing Techniques - methods Sensitivity and Specificity
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Summary:	Summary Candida albicans is the most frequently isolated yeast species from clinical specimens. A classical rapid presumptive differentiation from non‐albicans species is based on its ability to produce germ tubes after incubation in human serum. The only non‐albicans Candida species producing germ tubes is Candida dubliniensis. In this study, we evaluated Mueller‐Hinton‐agar (MH‐agar) as a medium for germ tube formation of C. albicans and C. dubliniensis. A total of 859 yeast isolates from stool samples, including 632 strains of C. albicans, 10 C. dubliniensis and 217 other yeast strains from 20 different species, were grown on Sabouraud glucose (2%) agar at 37 °C for 24–72 h. Species were identified by standard methods. For the germ tube test (GTT), an inoculum from a single colony was streaked onto a MH‐agar plate and covered by a sterile coverslip. After incubation at 37 °C for 2 h, the MH plates were examined using a light microscope at ×200. The GTT was positive in 578 of 632 C. albicans strains (sensitivity 91.5%), in six of 10 C. dubliniensis strains (sensitivity 60.0%), and in none of the other yeast strains. MH‐agar is a suitable medium for the GTT and the presumptive identification of C. albicans. It is safer to use than human serum and is widely available in microbiology laboratories.
Bibliography:	ark:/67375/WNG-NPBCWM3N-B istex:E616C6AFD0DF95D7C5A8B5E24A23C9E18BAD850F ArticleID:MYC1469 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0933-7407 1439-0507
DOI:	10.1111/j.1439-0507.2007.01469.x