Identification and Phylogenetic Relationship of the Most Common Pathogenic Candida Species Inferred from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences

Abstract

ABSTRACT We sequenced a 396-bp region of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of the most common clinically important Candida species: Candida albicans , C. glabrata , C. parapsilosis , C. tropicalis , C. krusei , and C. lusitaniae . The recently described species of Candida , C. dubliniensis , associated with mucosal candidiasis in human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals, was also included. Two to five strains of each species were examined. Some species represented intraspecies variation, which was not more than 1.8% (DNA). However, interspecies variations were more than 10 and 7%, respectively, for DNA and amino acid sequences. Multiple alignments of nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences revealed species-specific nucleotides and amino acids. Nucleotide- and amino acid-based phylogenetic trees were constructed and are discussed. Using the database, it is possible to identify presumptive Candida species within a working day.