PHENOTYPIC AND GENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF ORAL YEASTS FROM FINLANDAND THE UNITED-STATES

A total of 4-22 isolates of oral yeasts per subjects from 48 yeast-pos itive Finnish and American subjects (25 females and 23 males) were phe notyped and genotyped to determine the frequency of simultaneous oral carriage of multiple yeast taxa, An oral sample from either periodonta l pockets, oral mucosa or saliva was obtained. All subjects yielded Ca ndida albicans and 3 subjects an additional yeast species (Candida kru sei, Candida glabrata or Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The API 20C Aux ki t distinguished 9 different carbohydrate assimilation profiles among t he C. albicans isolates. Thirty-eight of 46 C. albicans biotype I isol ates were categorized in a single numerical profile. PCR analysis, usi ng a random primer OPA-03 and a repetitive primer (GACA)(4), detected 2 major genotypic groups among the C. albicans isolates; 44 subjects s howing isolates with a ''typical'' PCR-profile and 4 subjects isolates with an ''atypical'' PCR-profile. The ''atypical'' PCR-profile was si milar to that of Candida dubliniensis. All C. albicans isolates assimi lated xylose, except 5, including the 4 with an ''atypical'' PCR-profi le. No difference was found in distribution of oral yeast species, and of C. albicans phenotypes and genotypes between Finnish and American subjects. The present PCR method may offer a rapid and easy means of d istinguishing oral Candida species.