DESCRIPTIONS OF MEDICAL FUNGI

Descriptions of Medical Fungi 59
Clavispora lusitaniae Rodrigues de Miranda
Synonymy: Candida lusitaniae van Uden & do Carmo-Sousa.
Clavispora lusitaniae is a known cause of disseminated candidiasis, including
septicaemia and pyelonephritis. C. lusitaniae was first isolated from the digestive
tract of warm-blooded animals and environmental isolations have been made from
cornmeal, citrus peel, fruit juices, and milk from cows with mastitis. RG-2 organism.
Culture: Colonies (SDA) white to cream-coloured smooth, glabrous, yeast-like.
Microscopy: Ovoid to ellipsoidal budding blastoconidia, 1.5-6.0 x 2.5-10µm.
India Ink Preparation: Negative - no capsules present.
Dalmau Plate Culture: Abundant pseudohyphae with short chains of blastoconidia.
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 + L-Arabinose v D-Glucitol +
Fermentation Sucrose + D-Arabinose - α-M-D-glucoside v
Glucose + Maltose + D-Ribose - D-Gluconate s
Galactose v Cellobiose + L-Rhamnose v DL-Lactate +,w
Sucrose v Trehalose + D-Glucosamine - myo-Inositol -
Maltose v Lactose - N-A-D-glucosamine + 2-K-D-gluconate +
Lactose - Melibiose - Glycerol + D-Glucuronate nd
Trehalose v Raffinose - Erythritol - Nitrate -
Assimilation Melezitose + Ribitol s Urease -
Glucose + Soluble Starch - Galactitol - 0.1% Cycloheximide -
Galactose + D-Xylose + D-Mannitol + Growth at 40 O C +
Key Features: Germ tube negative yeast and sugar assimilation pattern.
Note: C. lusitaniae may also be difficult to distinguish from Candida tropicalis using
some yeast identification systems.
Antifungal Susceptibility: C. lusitaniae (Diekema et al. 2009, Pfaller et al. 2013,
Australian National data); MIC µg/mL.
No. 64
AmB 214 1 9 31 86 74 10 1 1 1
FLU 279 12 33 66 82 33 21 8 4 1 5 4
VORI 262 169 53 15 12 3 5 3 2
POSA 252 5 40 77 83 26 15 2 4
ITRA 99 1 1 3 21 33 20 15 4 1
ANID 175 1 13 32 56 59 13 1
MICA 159 1 2 13 22 57 46 11 6 1
CAS 247 2 4 12 86 91 38 12 1 1
5FC 44 15 20 1 2 2 1 1 2