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Background: Candida auris infections have recently emerged worldwide, and this species is highly capable of colonization and is associated with high levels of mortality. However, strain-dependent differences in colonization capabilities and virulence have not yet been reported., Objectives: In the present study, we aimed to clarify the differences between clinically isolated invasive and non-invasive strains of C. auris., Methods: We evaluated colonization, dissemination, and survival rates in wild C57BL/6J mice inoculated with invasive or non-invasive strains of C. auris under cortisone acetate immunosuppression, comparing with those of Candida albicans and Candida glabrata infections. We also evaluated the potency of biofilm formation., Results: Stool fungal burdens were significantly higher in mice inoculated with the invasive strains than in those infected with the non-invasive strain. Along with intestinal colonization, liver and kidney fungal burdens were also significantly higher in mice inoculated with the invasive strains. In addition, histopathological findings revealed greater dissemination and colonization of the invasive strains. Regarding biofilm-forming capability, the invasive strain of C. auris exhibited a significantly higher capacity of producing biofilms. Moreover, inoculation with the invasive strains resulted in significantly greater loss of body weight than that noted following infection with the non-invasive strain., Conclusions: Invasive strains showed higher colonization capability and rates of dissemination from gastrointestinal tracts under cortisone acetate immunosuppression than non-invasive strains, although the mortality rates caused by C. auris were lower than those caused by C. albicans., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Candida auris is an invasive and multidrug-resistant ascomycetous yeast that is under global surveillance. All clinical cases of C. auris infection diagnosed from 1997 to 2019 in Japan were non-invasive and sporadic otitis media cases. In the present study, we performed whole-genome sequencing of seven C. auris strains isolated from patients with otitis media in Japan, all of which belonged to clade II. Comparative genome analysis using the high-quality draft genome sequences JCM 15448T revealed that single nucleotide variations (SNVs), clade-specific accessory genes, and copy number variations (CNVs) were identified in each C. auris clade. A total of 61 genes involved in cell wall and stress response-related functions was absent in clade II, and the pattern of conserved CNVs in each clade was more stable in clade II than in other clades. Our data suggest that the genomic structural diversity is stable in C. auris isolated from each biogeographic location, and Japanese strains isolated from patients with otitis media might belong to an ancestral type of C. auris. One Japanese strain, TWCC 58362, with reduced susceptibility to fluconazole, exhibited no mutation in ergosterol biosynthesis-related genes (ERG). However, TWCC 58362-specific variations, including SNVs, indels, and CNVs were detected, suggesting that gene duplication events in C. auris might contribute to antifungal drug resistance. Taken together, we demonstrated that genomic structural variations in C. auris could correlate to geographical dissemination, epidemiology, lesions in the host, and antifungal resistance., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Fluconazole (FLCZ) is an azole antifungal agent and it has shown excellent clinical activities in suppressing fungemia with Candida albicans after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Increased administration of prophylactic FLCZ seems to have given rise to the relatively higher incidence of more resistant Candida non-albicans infection. We present a case with a rare breakthrough fungemia with C. guilliermondii after cord blood transplantation for Extranodal NK cell Lymphoma, nasal type (ENKL), during antifungal prophylaxis with FLCZ. High level of caution is needed for the breakthrough, especially after long-term azole administration., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

We present a rare case of intraorbital abscess caused by Candida allociferrii, which was described as a new species of Stephanoascus ciferrii complex in 2002, in a patient after enucleation of choroidal melanoma. This strain showed resistance to itraconazole, and fluconazole. After debridement and topical use of amphotericin B, his wound abscess was disappeared. To our knowledge, this is the first C. allociferrii infection case in human.

As longer lives have become possible due to advances in medical technology and diagnostic technology in recent years, weakly toxic fungus have been emerging as causative agents of opportunistic infections, primarily in high-risk groups. We report a case in which the yeast-like fungus Stephanoascus ciferii, which has morphological characteristics that differ from those of the more common Candida species, was isolated by culturing the aural discharge of a patient with intractable otitis media. Drug susceptibility testing showed that it was resistant to fluconazole, flucytosine, and itraconazole, suggesting that it is a species that has a strong tendency to become resistant. The principal sites of infection by Stephanoascus ciferii are thought to be in the ENT area, but in other countries it has been isolated from patients with acute myeloid leukemia and immunodeficiency as well as superficial mycoses, and it may also be a causative agent of deep mycoses. We therefore think that it is necessary to bear in mind detection in other areas outside the ENT field and to adequately monitor the circumstances under which this fungus is isolated.

Ability for growth support and species differentiation by colony features were compared on two commercial chromogenic agars, CHROMagar Candida and newly developed Pourmedia Vi Candida. Eleven strains (ten species) of standard strains and twenty-four isolates (five species) of clinical strains were tested. All isolates were grown on both agar plates in 48 hours at 35 degrees C, however, several species had not matured in 22 hours. Color of the colonies for each strain were stable on both agars. The results show that Pourmedia Vi Candida is equivalent to CHROMagar Candida in its ability to differentiate species as a primary culture plate.