Subgingival strains of Candida albicans in relation to geographical originand occurrence of periodontal pathogenic bacteria

Clonal diversity of subgingival yeast strains was determined in relation to geographical location and coexistence of selected periodontal pathogenic b acteria. A total of 60 dental patients from Finland, the United States and Turkey each contributed five Candida albicans isolates. C. albicans isolate s were serotyped using slide agglutination and genotyped using polymerase c hain reaction (PCR) amplification and a random sequence primer. In general, each study subject yielded C. albicans isolates belonging to the same sero type and genotype. C. albicans serotype A occurred more frequently in subje cts from Finland and Turkey than in subjects from the United States. A tota l of 27 PCR-based C. albicans genotypes were identified. One C. albicans ge notype occurred with particularly high frequency in subjects from Turkey an d another genotype in subjects from the United States. Relationships were i dentified between C. albicans serotypes and genotypes. Further studies are needed to determine environmental factors of importance for subgingival col onization and persistence of C. albicans.