African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12496

Full Length Research Paper

Virulence properties and random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting of Candida albicans isolates obtained from Monastir dental hospital, Tunisia

Emira Noumi1,2*, Mejdi Snoussi1, Hajer Hentati3, Rafael Sentandreu2, Lucas del Castillo2, Amina Bakhrouf1 and Eulogio Valentin2
  1Laboratoire  d’Analyse, Traitement et Valorisation des Polluants de l’Environnement et des Produits, Faculté de Pharmacie, Rue Avicenne, Monastir 5000, Tunisie. 2Departamento de Microbiologia y Ecología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Valencia, Burjassot, Valencia, Spain. 3Service de Médecine et Chirurgie Buccales, Clinique Odontologique de Monastir, Tunisie.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 09 September 2010
  •  Published: 07 February 2011

Abstract

 

Genotypic and phenotypic characterization as well as studies on the virulence factors of Candida albicans isolates obtained from oral cavity of patients was carried out using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting and epithelial cells adherence assay, respectively. RAPD patterns revealed the presence of 13 C. albicans genotypes separated into two clusters at 75% of similarity when they were combined.  Results also showed the presence of haemolytic protease activity as virulence factors with 88% of the C. albicans strains been able to adhere to Caco-2 cells and only 64% to Hep-2. RAPD-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a molecular tool used to differentiate the isolates into various genotypes based on their virulence properties.

 

Key words: Candida albicans, stomatitis, random amplified polymorphic DNA, Hep-2, Caco-2 cells.

Abbreviation

 PCR, Polymerase chain reaction; RAPD, random amplified polymorphic DNASap, secretory aspartyl proteinases; PFGE, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; SCA, sabouraud chloramphenicol agarEDTA,ethylenediaminetetraacetic acidSDA, Sabouraud dextrose agar; YPD, yeast peptone dextrose; Hep-2, cells from human laryngeal carcinoma; Caco-2, cells from human colon adenocarcinomaPBS, phosphate-buffered saline; MIC,minimum inhibitory concentration.