In Vitro Antifungal Susceptibility Profiles of Candida albicans Complex Isolated from Patients with Respiratory Infections

Candidiasis, the main opportunistic fungal infection has been increased over the past decades. This study aimed to characterize C.albicans species complex (C.albicans, C.dubliniensis, and C.africana) isolated from patients with respiratory infections by molecular tools and in vitro antifungal susceptibilities by using broth microdilution method according to CLSI M27-A3 guidelines. Totally, 121 respiratory samples were collected from patients with respiratory infections. Of these, 83 strains were germ tube positive and green colonies on chromogenic media, so initially identified as C.albicans species complex and subsequently were classified as C.albicans (89.15%), C.dubliniensis (9.63%), and C.africana (1.2%) based on PCR-RFLP and amplification of hwp1 gene. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) results showed that all tested isolates of C.albicans complex were highly susceptible to triazole drugs. However, caspofungin had highest activity against C.albicans, C.dubliniensis, and C.africana. Our findings indicated the variety of antifungal resistance of Candida strains in different areas. These results may increase the knowledge about the local distribution of the mentioned strains as well as their antifungal susceptibility pattern which play an important role in appropriate therapy

Genetic analysis of central Anatolian grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) germplasm by simple sequence repeats

The Anatolian peninsula otherwise known as Asia Minor is considered one of the centers that shaped grape (Vitis spp.) evolution and domestication. This region with diverse ecological conditions also has a long history of viticulture and growing grapes has been a part of the local culture since very old times. However, very little information is available on genetic analysis of Anatolian grape germplasm. This study reports on genetic analyses of 88 grapevine cultivars from Central Anatolia using 17 microsatellite (SSR) loci. The average number of alleles per locus was 9.18, ranging from 5 to 15. The highest heterozygosity rate was obtained for the SSR loci “VVS2” and “VMC2H4.” Genetic distances between populations ranged from 0.056 to 0.207 and two cases of identical, seven cases of homonymous, and nine cases of synonymous grape cultivar groups were identified. Based on comparisons with international Vitis databases, it has been determined that “Moldova-Coarna Neagra” cultivar is synonymous with some Anatolian cultivars. In addition, investigation of the genetic diversity of 20 genotypes of Anatolian wild germplasm revealed a higher level of genetic diversity in wild populations than in cultivated ones at the studied microsatellite loci. The results reported here should not only contribute towards better management of the grape germplasm of the region but also provide new insights into grape domestication