Evaluation of in vivo pathogenicity of Candida species isolated from palm wine and sorghum beer in a murine model

Since Candida species frequently isolated in hospitals have been found in food processing environments, their presence in palm wine and sorghum beer may be of some clinical significance. This study was carried out to assess the in vivo pathogenicity of Candida strains isolated from these traditional beverages. Thus, ten potentially pathogenic strains were used to inoculate immunocompromised rat models by gavage and observed up to 30 days post-inoculation. On contrary to the control rats, the body weights of the animals inoculated with all the studied strains decreased over time, passing from 105-111 g to 89-98 g. Furthermore, the amount of white blood cells and platelets significantly increased while the red blood cell counts decreased, except those inoculated with Kluyveromyces marxianus strains. The blood smears taken at day-30 showed yeast cells in 60% of the inoculated rats. All strains in the study, except Candida tropicalis S10 and S13, were detected in the kidney with loads ranging from 2.58 to 7.24 log (CFU/g). In the liver, C. tropicalis S17, K. marxianus S87 and K. marxianus S2 were not detected. Thus, palm wine and sorghum beer yeast strains, mainly C. rugosa, C. inconspicua and C. tropicalis strains are capable of inducing candidemia

Identification of yeasts isolated from raffia wine (Raphia hookeri) produced in Cote d'Ivoire and genotyping of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains by PCR inter-delta

Raffia wine is a traditional alcoholic beverage produced in several African countries where it plays a significant role in traditional customs and population diet. Alcoholic fermentation of this beverage is ensured by a complex natural yeast flora which plays a decisive role in the quality of the final product. This present study aims to evaluate the distribution and the diversity of the yeast strains isolated in raffia wine from four sampling areas (Abengourou, Alepe, Grand-Lahou and Adzope) in Cote d'Ivoire. Based on the D1/D2 domain of the LSU rDNA sequence analysis, nine species belonging to six genera were distinguished. With a percentage of 69.5 % out of 171 yeast isolates, Saccharomyces cerevisiae was the predominant species in the raffia wine, followed by Kodamaea ohmeri (20.4 %). The other species isolated were Candida haemulonii (4.1 %), Candida phangngensis (1.8 %), Pichia kudriavzevii (1.2 %), Hanseniaspora jakobsenii (1.2 %), Candida silvae (0.6 %), Hanseniaspora guilliermondii (0.6 %) and Meyerozyma caribbica (0.6 %). The molecular characterization of S. cerevisiae isolates at the strain level using the PCR-interdelta method revealed the presence of 21 profiles (named I to XXI) within 115 isolates. Only four profiles (I, III, V and XI) were shared by the four areas under study. Phenotypic characterization of K. ohmeri strains showed two subgroups for sugar fermentation and no diversity for the nitrogen compound assimilations and the growth at different temperatures

Genetic diversity and population structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains isolated from traditional alcoholic beverages of Côte d'Ivoire

In order to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of indigenous S. cerevisiae from Cote d'Ivoire, a total of 170 strains were isolated from four traditional alcoholic beverages through nine regions. Microsatellite analysis performed at 12 loci revealed that strains of palm oil and raffia wine were genetically related, unlike those of tchapalo and ron wine which formed two s from palm oil wine and raffia wine were clearly inbred. In comparison with the European, North American, Asian and others West African populations, Ivorian population was well defined, although most of these strains were admixed. Among these strains, only isolates from raffia wine appeared to have alleles in common to all populations