Catheter-associated Candida utilis fungemia in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: species verification with a molecular probe

Abstract

Candida utilis was cultured from the blood of a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The candidemia was apparently associated with catheter implantation. The isolate was identified initially by standard methods and verified by molecular probing. The pattern of actin-specific restriction fragments obtained from the DNA of the isolate, probed with C. albicans actin sequences, corresponded to that of C. utilis. This organism adds to the growing list of Candida species associated with human disease. Molecular probing offers a definitive identification when an unexpected etiological agent is found.