Candida krusei in Baker's yeast production

Summary Candida krusei is a harmful contaminant in baker's yeast manufacture, because it grows much faster than Saccharomyces cerevisiae under production conditions. This investigation showed that C. krusei utilizes the ethanol produced by baker's yeast as sole carbon source when molasses is used as a substrate. When the alcohol concentration in the effluent air is used as a parameter for controlling the aeration of the culture, conditions become favourable for the dominance of wild yeast because some of the ethanol produced by the baker's yeast is consumed immediately by C. krusei and aeration is then automatically reduced, leading to increased growth of the wild yeast.     

Metergoline-induced cell death in Candida krusei

Metergoline possesses potent antifungal activity against Candida krusei, a notorious yeast species that is inherently resistant to the common antifungal agents. In an attempt to elucidate the action mechanisms of metergoline, the present study was designed to investigate its effects on a number of classical markers of apoptosis in C. krusei. The results showed that transient exposure (2h) to metergoline led to a massive intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential in a concentration-dependent fashion. Analyses of the treated fungal cells after prolonged incubation (12h) with metergoline by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy clearly demonstrated phosphatidylserine externalization, the presence of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labelling-positive cells and fungal cells undergoing necrosis. Taken together, our data provide evidence that metergoline elicited cell death process in C. krusei through elevation of the intracellular ROS level and perturbation of mitochondrial homeostasis, followed by damage of nucleus and eventual cell demise.     

Candida krusei in genital infections]

Frequency of appearance of Candida krusei in human reproductive tract, susceptibility of these microorganisms to drugs and their importance in pathogenesis of mycosis, were investigated. Strains C. krusei species constituted 6.7% of the total 1325 strains and 21.8% within other than C. albicans species yeast-like fungi. Vaginal mycosis caused by fungi from C. krusei species occurs in presence of Lactobacillus sp. and correct values of pH in vaginal contents, however changed leukocytosis in evident. Over 60% of patients with C. krusei infection were complaining that they feel disturbances within the reproductive tract. Investigation of susceptibility of C. krusei to drugs revealed highest activity of cotrimazine and pimaricin.     

不同渗透压调节剂对Candida krusei生理代谢的影响

比较了氯化钠、氯化钾、甘露醇存在的高渗环境下克鲁氏假丝酵母(Candida kru-sei)的生理代谢。3种渗透压调节剂对C.krusei生理代谢影响有显著差异。与甘露醇相比,氯化钠和氯化钾对细胞生长的影响更为显著,而氯化钾对细胞的毒性则又小于氯化钠。细胞对糖的消耗速率依次为甘露醇>氯化钾>氯化钠。甘油和海藻糖是C.krusei在高渗环境下的主要相容性溶质。氯化钠和氯化钾对甘油合成的促进作用明显高于甘露醇。在0.6mol/L氯化钠、氯化钾、甘露醇存在时,细胞甘油浓度较对照提高了74%、63%、57%;胞内甘油最大含量也分别达到对照的3.1,2.4和1.8倍。高渗环境下胞内海藻糖含量在发酵前期均有所降低,但发酵后期在0.6mol/L氯化钾和甘露醇存在时海藻糖迅速积累,其含量分别达对照的1.6和1.4倍。     

链格孢霉合并克柔念珠菌所致肺部感染1例

1临床资料患儿,男,10岁,于2009年6月25日入住我院小儿科。9d前无明显诱因出现发热、咳嗽（当日外周血白细胞11．5×10^9／L,中性粒细胞72．4％）,在外院抗感染治疗无效,并伴胸闷、气短、心悸转入我院。入院查体,呼吸音粗,双肺可闻及少许细湿罗音和干罗音,伴少许喘鸣音;胸片可见双肺斑片状影,边界不清,呈“蝴蝶翼”样,     

Candida krusei : biotechnological potentials and concerns about its safety

Yeasts have a tradition in biotechnological applications, and Saccharomyces species are the most dominating representatives. Among the yeast species, Candida krusei has been isolated from different habitats, and in recent years, it has gained increased interest because of its diverse biotechnological role. It is found in many fermented food items and dairy products and has also been exploited for production of biochemicals and enzymes. However, because of its opportunistic pathogenic nature, it draws scientific attention regarding the safety of its industrial exploitation. Candida?krusei generally causes infections in immunocompromised patients, such as those suffering from Human immunodeficiency virus - acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and also in cancer patients. The recent increase in the use of immunosuppressive drugs has increased the chances of C.?krusei infections. Candida?krusei possesses an intrinsic resistance to many triazole antifungal drugs, especially fluconazole, which is a main drug used in antifungal therapy; therefore, there is serious concern regarding its safe industrial use.     

Temperature effects on ethanol and isopropanol utilization by Candida krusei

Candida Krusei has a optimum growth temperature of 37°C on SASOL ethanol-isopropanol mixture. The organism was unable to grow on isopropanol, but oxidized it partially to acetone in the presence and absence of ethanol. Growth at 40°C in the alcohol mixture was slightly faster than at 30°C over an ethanol concentration range of 0.43 to 3.6% (v/v), although at both temperatures the growth rate declined continuously with increasing concentration. At an ethanol concentration greater than 3.6% (v/v), the mixture was much more inhibitory to growth at 40 and 30°C. The inhibitory effect was due to the ethanol rather than the isopropanol. Metabolites such as acetate, acetaldehyde, and ethyl acetate accumulated in the medium, but the degree of accumulation depended upon the temperature and alcohol mixture concentration. At 40°C, acetaldehyde and acetate accumulated to a greater extent than 30°C on a 4.0% (v/v) synthetic alcohol mixture and this may also cause the greater inhibition at this temperature. The alcohol mixture is unsuitable for single cell protein (SCP) production in batch culture because of the low cell densities observed at all alcohol concentrations.     

Antifungal Activity of Baicalein Against Candida krusei Does Not Involve Apoptosis

The present study was designed to evaluate the antifungal activity of baicalein against Candida krusei isolates. Using a broth microdilution assay, baicalein exhibited potent in vitro antifungal activity against C. krusei isolates with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 2.7 μg/ml. Flow cytometric study indicated that baicalein depolarized mitochondrial membrane potential in a concentration-dependent manner. However, mechanistic analyses showed that the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was virtually unchanged, and massive DNA fragmentation was not observed in C. krusei isolates after baicalein treatment even at a concentration which was apoptotic in C. albicans. Taken together, we conclude that the antifungal activity of baicalein in C. krusei isolates occurs through perturbation in mitochondrial homeostasis without causing elevation of the intracellular ROS level and does not involve apoptosis.     

Molecular Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of Hoplolaimus stephanus

Three Hoplolaimus stephanus populations were characterized morphologically, both by morphometrics and by SEM observations. These populations were used to develop a rapid and accurate molecular identification method for the species, which is useful because of the high level of morphological similarity between H. stephanus and H. galeatus. Species-specific primers for H. stephanus, amplifying a distinct fragment (260 bp) of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer1 (ITS1), can be used in multiplex PCR along with previously developed primers for other common Hoplolaimus species. We also infer phylogenetic relationships among H. stephanus, the closely-related H. galeatus, and several other Hoplolaimus species, using sequences of the actin gene, ITS1 and LSUD.     

克柔念珠菌对抗真菌药物耐药机制的研究进展

近年来,克柔念珠菌感染明显增加,对抗真菌药物尤其是唑类药物的耐药现象越来越严重,深入研究其耐药机制已引起高度关注.克柔念珠菌耐药机制可能与以下因素有关:唑类药物作用靶酶结构的改变、真菌细胞膜上外排泵过度表达、真菌细胞内药物蓄积减少等.克柔念珠菌对唑类的耐药可能是多种耐药机制共同作用的结果.     

Sterol content and polyene antibiotic resistance in isolates of Candida krusei, Candida parakrusei, and Candida tropicalis.

Three isolates, one from each species of Candida krusei, C. parakrusei, and C. tropicalis, obtained from infected patients, were more tolerant of significantly higher concentrations of polyene antibiotics than the corresponding reference wild types. The resistant strains isolated had the same sterols as their wild-type counterparts but in lower concentrations.     

Effect of dietary carbohydrates on the in vitro epithelial adhesion of Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, and Candida krusei

Adhesion to epithelial surfaces is considered as a critical step in the pathogenesis of oral candidosis. Therefore, the effects of the most commonly consumed dietary carbohydrates on the adhesion of Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, and Candida krusei to monolayered HeLa cells were investigated. Adherence of C. albicans and C. tropicalis appeared significantly promoted by incubation in defined medium containing a high concentration (500 mM) of fructose, glucose, maltose, and sucrose (p < 0.001). C. albicans organisms grown in sucrose elicited maximal increase in adhesion, whereas adhesion of C. tropicalis and C. krusei was enhanced to the greatest extent when cultured in glucose. Maltose and fructose also promoted adherence of C. albicans and C. tropicalis (p < 0.001), but to a lesser extent than sucrose and glucose. On the other hand, sorbitol-grown yeasts demonstrated a marginal increase in adhesion (p > 0.01). Xylitol only significantly reduced adherence of C. albicans (p < 0.001). These results suggest that the frequent consumption of carbohydrates, such as sucrose, glucose, maltose, or fructose, might represent a risk factor for oral candidosis. The limitation of their consumption by substituting xylitol or sorbitol could be of value in the control of oral Candida colonization and infection.     

A Primer to Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis in Plants

Reconstructing a tree of life by inferring evolutionary history is an important focus of evolutionary biology. Phylogenetic reconstructions also provide useful information for a range of scientific disciplines such as botany, zoology, phylogeography, archaeology and biological anthropology. Until the development of protein and DNA sequencing techniques in the 1960s and 1970s, phylogenetic reconstructions were based on fossil records and comparative morphological/physiological analyses. Since then, progress in molecular phylogenetics has compensated for some of the shortcomings of phenotype-based comparisons. Comparisons at the molecular level increase the accuracy of phylogenetic inference because there is no environmental influence on DNA/peptide sequences and evaluation of sequence similarity is not subjective. While the number of morphological/physiological characters that are sufficiently conserved for phylogenetic inference is limited, molecular data provide a large number of datapoints and enable comparisons from diverse taxa. Over the last 20 years, developments in molecular phylogenetics have greatly contributed to our understanding of plant evolutionary relationships. Regions in the plant nuclear and organellar genomes that are optimal for phylogenetic inference have been determined and recent advances in DNA sequencing techniques have enabled comparisons at the whole genome level. Sequences from the nuclear and organellar genomes of thousands of plant species are readily available in public databases, enabling researchers without access to molecular biology tools to investigate phylogenetic relationships by sequence comparisons using the appropriate nucleotide substitution models and tree building algorithms. In the present review, the statistical models and algorithms used to reconstruct phylogenetic trees are introduced and advances in the exploration and utilization of plant genomes for molecular phylogenetic analyses are discussed.     

Prolonged Outbreak of Candida krusei Candidemia in Paediatric Ward of Tertiary Care Hospital

Mycopathologia - A sudden rise of Candida krusei candidemia cases was noticed in our hospital within 1&nbsp;year with maximum cases from paediatric unit. The present study reports the results...     

Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of Zebra Finch Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors

The zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) is an established organism for developmental, behavioral, and neurological research. In this study, we conducted a genomewide survey using the zebra finch genome project databases and identified 86 bHLH sequences in silico in the zebra finch genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 85 proteins belong to 38 families with 29, 18, 18, 3, 11, and 6 bHLH members in supergroups A, B, C, D, E, and F, respectively. One orphan member belonged to none of these groups. Comparisons of zebra finch with chicken and human bHLH repertoires suggested that both humans and birds have a number of lineage-specific bHLH members. Chromosome distribution patterns and phylogenetic analysis suggest that the zebra finch bHLH members should have arisen through gene duplication. This study provides useful information for further research using zebra finch as a model system.     

Isolation and Characterization of a Species-Specific DNA Probe for the Detection of Candida krusei

In an attempt to design species-specific primers for the detection of Candida krusei by polymerase chain reaction, a partial genomic DNA library from Candida krusei was screened for hybridization with radiolabeled genomic probes from a broad variety of fungal and bacterial species and from human. Species-specific candidate DNA inserts were then tested for hybridization with dot blots of DNA from various organisms. One 570-basepair insert from Candida krusei DNA that hybridized under stringent conditions only with DNA from Candida krusei and human was sequenced. It revealed considerable homology with the gene for the mitochondrial inner membrane protease I of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the 147 amino acid residues deduced from an open reading frame showed considerable homology with the N-termial portion of the enzyme from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. From the sequence of the Candida krusei DNA fragment, a pair of 21-base oligonucleotide primers enclosing a 501-basepair sequence was designed for polymerase chain reaction. When these primers were tested with a broad range of genomic DNAs, the expected amplification was obtained only with Candida krusei DNA and not with DNA from any other source, including human. Experiments with DNA from mixed cultures of Candida krusei and other yeasts and bacteria showed that the polymerase chain reaction was specific for Candida krusei and that as few as ten cells could be detected. Received: 8 November 1995/Accepted: 12 February 1996     

Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of Petunia Juss. (Solanaceae)

Representatives from 11 Petunia Jussieu species in south and southeast Brazil were compared with two Calibrachoa La Llave & Lex., one Bouchetia Dunal, and two Nierembergia Ruiz & Pav. taxa in relation to DNA molecular variability. A total of 4532 base pairs related to one nuclear, five plastidial and one mitochondrial systems was investigated. Petunia and Calibrachoa, although separated among themselves, clearly differentiate from the two other genera. Despite the fact that the Petunia species do not show marked molecular differences, they can be separated in two complexes, in good agreement with altitude data. Petunia + Calibrachoa should have diverged from other clades at about 25 million years before present.