GENOTYPIC VARIATION AND SLIME PRODUCTION AMONG BLOOD AND CATHETER ISOLATES OF CANDIDA-PARAPSILOSIS

Candida parapsilosis is an important nosocomial pathogen that can prol iferate in high concentrations of glucose and form biofilms on prosthe tic materials. We investigated the genotypic diversity and slime produ ction among 31 isolates of C. parapsilosis from individual patients wi th bloodstream or catheter infections. DNA subtyping was performed by using electrophoretic karyotyping plus restriction endonuclease analys is with BssHII followed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Slime pro duction was evaluated by growing organisms in Sabouraud broth with 8% glucose and examining the walls of the tubes for the presence of an ad herent slime layer. Overall there were 14 DNA subtypes among the 31 is olates. Eighty percent of the isolates produced slime; 67% of the isol ates were moderately to strongly positive, 13% were weakly positive, a nd 20% were not slime producers. The ability of isolates of a given DN A type to produce slime under these conditions was variable. The resul ts of these studies indicate moderate genotypic variation among clinic al isolates of C. parapsilosis. The propensity of these isolates to fo rm slime in glucose-containing solutions suggests that this phenotypic characteristic may contribute to the ability of C. parapsilosis to ad here to plastic catheters and cause infections.