Species and genotypic diversities and similarities of pathogenic yeasts colonizing women

We examined the patterns of strain relatedness among pathogenic yeasts from within and among groups of women to determine whether there were significa nt associations between genotype and host condition or body site. A total o f 80 yeast strains were isolated, identified, and genotyped from 49 female volunteers, who were placed in three groups: (i) 19 women with AIDS, (ii) 1 1 pregnant women without human immunodeficiency virus (HN) infection, and ( iii) 19 women who were neither pregnant nor infected with HN. Seven yeast s pecies were recovered, including 59 isolates of Candida albicans, 9 isolate s of Candida parapsilosis, 5 isolates of Candida krusei, 3 isolates of Cand ida glabrata, 2 isolates of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and 1 isolate each of Candida tropicalis and candida lusitaniae. Seventy unique genotypes were i dentified by PCR fingerprinting with the M13 core sequence and by random am plified polymorphic DNA analysis. Of the nine shared genotypes, isolates fr om three different hosts were of one genotype and pairs of strains from dif ferent body sites of the same host shared each of the other eight genotypes . Genetic similarities among groups of strains were calculated and compared . We found no significant difference in the patterns of relatedness of stra ins from the three body sites (oral cavity, vagina, and rectum), regardless of host conditions. The yeast microflora of all three host groups had simi lar species and genotypic diversities. Furthermore, a single host can be co lonized with multiple species or multiple genotypes of the same species at the same or different body sites, indicating dynamic processes of yeast col onization on women.