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Eukaryotic Cell doi:10.1128/EC.00162-08
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of a Geographically and Temporally Matched Collection of Candida albicans Isolates from Humans and Non-Migratory Wildlife in Central Illinois

Departments of Pathobiology, and Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61802; Departments of Biological Sciences, Pathology, and Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: lhoyer{at}uiuc.edu.

	Abstract

This study explored whether wildlife species serve as the reservoir for human C. albicans strains in a given geographic area. C. albicans isolates were collected from non-migratory wildlife admitted to the University of Illinois Wildlife Medical Clinic. A geographically and temporally matched set of C. albicans oral isolates was collected from healthy human volunteers. Multilocus sequence typing was used to assign strains to genetic clades. Clade 1 isolates, particularly diploid sequence type (DST) 69, were most common in humans. Clade 1 strains were less frequently recovered from wildlife, while clade 8 strains, particularly DST 90, were over-represented in the wildlife collection. All instances where a wildlife and human isolate shared the same DST occurred within clade 1. Clade distribution between human and wildlife isolates was significantly different, demonstrating population isolation between the groups. These differences may indicate limited strain transfer between groups or differential selection of C. albicans isolates in humans and wildlife. Wildlife strains had a significantly lower amphotericin B MIC than human isolates; strains with increased susceptibility were from several clades. C. albicans isolates were collected from domestic animals to provide comparisons with human and wildlife datasets. C. albicans isolation from canine and feline oral and anal swabs was infrequent; companion animal isolates were closely related to clade 1 human isolates. Collectively, data suggest a greater likelihood of C. albicans transfer from humans to animals, than from animals to humans. The non-transient human population may maintain the connection between geography and C. albicans genetic groups recovered from humans.