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Inside the Color Atlas of Mycology: Candida famata

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November 2018—Color Atlas of Mycology: An Illustrated Field Guide Based on Proficiency Testing is a new book from CAP Press, released in October. It is designed to help in identifying fungi using the most recent taxonomic classifications. In it is more than 15 years of proficiency testing data to highlight diagnostic clusters of incorrect identifications and address conceptual classification issues. Following is an excerpt from the section on yeast.

Authors of the new atlas are Gordon L. Love, MD, chair of the Department of Pathology, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, and director of laboratories, University Medical Center, New Orleans; and Julie A. Ribes, MD, PhD, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and the director of the clinical microbiology laboratory and assistant director of special chemistry, infectious disease serology, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington.

Essential Facts
Culture Characteristics: Candida famata grows rapidly on routine mycology media to produce cream-colored colonies at 25°C. It produces oval budding yeast on cornmeal Tween-80 agar that are about 3.5 µm to 5 µm in diameter. Mycelia are usually absent, but rudimentary pseudohyphae may occasionally form.

Potential Look-Alikes: By cornmeal Tween-80 morphology, Candida famata, C glabrata, C inconspicua, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae also produce yeast without pseudohyphae. C famata is prone to misidentification by automated biochemical microbial identification systems.

Key Differentiating Feature: Candida famata identification by molecular means or MALDI-TOF may be helpful.

Clinical: Candida famata is an unusual human pathogen, with few bloodstream infections reported.

Ecology: Candida famata is commonly isolated from dairy products.

MALDI-TOF: An accurate identification of this yeast is possible using either FDA-approved Bruker Biotyper CA or VITEK MS PLUS system. Both systems currently list this organism as Candida famata.

 

 

 

Colonial Morphology

Figure 14-1. Candida famata grows rapidly on routine mycology media to produce cream-colored colonies at 25°C. Growth is variable on media containing cycloheximide. Maximum growth temperature is 35°C to 37°C.1

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