Abstract

To genotype clinical Candida albicans isolates by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method, this paper study molecular epidemiology of Candida albicans infection and discuss possible relationship between RAPD patterns and antifungal test results. 30C. albicans isolates with corresponding patient’s information and antifungal drug susceptibility test results were collected. All the isolates were genotyped by RAPD fingerprinting by employing primer OPE-03. Cluster analysis was performed by Neighbor Joining and unweighted pair-group method using an arithmetic average methods. Primer OPE-03 was suitable for fingerprinting analysis and was found to generate the reproducible fingerprints, yielding well-resolved banding patterns. Generally, the isolates can be divided into three clusters. RAPD fingerprinting can be used to genotype C. albicans; the RAPD patterns of C. albicans may be related to origins of fungi; it seems the RAPD patterns also related to drug resistance.

Key words: C. albicans, genotyping, random amplified polymorphic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), cluster analysis.