Debaryomyces hansenii

Synonymy: 
Candida famata.

Debaryomyces hansenii is a common environmental isolate.

It may be isolated from human skin, and is only rarely recovered from blood stream infections.

RG-1 organism.

Culture: 
Colonies (SDA) white to cream-coloured smooth, glabrous, yeast-like.

Microscopy: 
Ovoid to broadly ellipsoidal budding blastoconidia, 3.5-5 x 2-3.5 µm in size. No pseudohyphae produced. Asci when present are spherical, persistent, containing one to two spherical ascospores with rough walls.

India ink preparation: 
Negative - no capsules present.

Dalmau plate culture: 
Spherical to ovoid budding yeast cells only. Pseudohyphae are usually lacking.

Molecular identification: 
ITS sequencing recommended.

MALDI-TOF MS: 
Able to accurately identify this species.

Physiological Tests: + Positive, - Negative, v Variable, w Weak, s Slow, nd No Data
Germ Tube - L-Sorbose v L-Arabinose +,w D-Glucitol +,w
Fermentation   Sucrose + D-Arabinose v 𝝰-M-D-Glucoside +,w
Glucose -,w Maltose + D-Ribose v D-Gluconate +,w
Galactose -,w Cellobiose + L-Rhamnose v DL-Lactate v
Sucrose -,w Trehalose + D-Glucosamime v myo-Inositol -
Maltose -,w Lactose v N-A-D-glucosamine v 2-K-D-Gluconate +
Lactose - Melibiose v Glycerol + D-Glucuronate v
Trehalose -,w Raffinose + Erythritol v Nitrate -
Assimilation   Melezitose v Ribitol + Urease -
Glucose + Soluble Starch v Galactitol v 0.1% Cycloheximide v
Galactose + D-Xylose + D-Mannitol + Growth at 40C -

Key features: 
Germ tube negative yeast and sugar assimilation pattern.

Antifungal susceptibility: Debaryomyces hansenii (Diekema et al. 2009, Beyda et al. 2013, Espinel-Ingroff et al. 2014 and Australian national data); MIC µg/mL.

Antifungal No ≤0.03 0.06 0.125 0.25 0.5 1 2 4 8 16 32 ≥64
AMB 29   2 3 7 14 2 1          
FLU 78     9 18 14 9 9 11 2 3   3
VORI 81 48 16 9 4   2 1 1        
POSA 75 20 22 10 8 10 2 3          
ITRA 14 2 2 1 4 3         2    
ANID 26 1 2 3 1   9 10          
MICA 25 5 1   2 8 6 3          
5FC 14 1 7 1 1 2             2

References

  • Beyda, N.D., Chuang, S.H., Alam, M.J., et al. (2013) Treatment of Candida famata bloodstream infections: case series and review of the literature. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 68, 438-443.
  • Desnos-Ollivier, M., Ragon, M., Robert, V., et al. (2008) Debaryomyces hansenii (Candida famata), a rare human fungal pathogen often misidentified as Pichia guilliermondii (Candida guilliermondii). Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 46, 3237-3242.
  • Diekema, D.J., Messer, S.A., Boyken, L.B., et al. (2009) In vitro activity of seven systemically active antifungal agents against a large global collection of rare Candida species as determined by CLSI broth microdilution methods. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 47, 3170-3177.
  • Espinel-Ingroff, A., Pfaller, M.A., Bustamante, B., et al. (2014) Multilaboratory study of epidemiological cutoff values for detection of resistance in eight Candida species to fluconazole, posaconazole, and voriconazole. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 58, 2006-2012.
  • Suzuki, M., Prasad, G.S. and Kurtzman, C.P. (2011) Chapter 24, Debaryomyces Lodder & Kreger-van Rij (1952), in Kurtzman, C.P., Fell, J.W. and Boekhout, T. (eds), The Yeasts, a Taxonomic Study, 5th edition, pp. 361-372.

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