Recently, several studies have revealed that commercial microbial identification systems do not accurately identify the uncommon causative species of candidiasis, including Candida famata, Meyerozyma guilliermondii, and C. auris. We investigated the accuracy of species-level identification in a collection of clinical isolates previously identified as C. famata (N = 38), C. lusitaniae (N = 1 2), and M. guilliermondii (N = 5) by the Vitek 2 system. All 55 isolates were re-analyzed by the Phoenix system (Becton Dickinson Diagnostics), two matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry analyzers (a Vitek MS and a Bruker Biotyper), and by sequencing of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions or 26S rRNA gene D1/D2 domains. Among 38 isolates previously identified as C. famata by the Vitek 2 system, the majority (27/38 isolates, 71.1%) were identified as C. tropicalis (20 isolates) or C. albicans (7 isolates) by ITS sequencing, and none was identified as C. famata. Among 20 isolates that were identified as C. tropicalis, 17 (85%) were isolated from urine. The two isolates that were identified as C. auris by ITS sequencing originated from ear discharge. The Phoenix system did not accurately identify C. lusitaniae, C. krusei, or C. auris. The correct identification rate for 55 isolates was 92.7% (51/55 isolates) for the Vitek MS and 94.6% (52/55 isolates) for the Bruker Biotyper, as compared with results from ITS sequencing. These results suggest that C. famata is very rare in Korea, and that the possibility of misidentification should be noted when an uncommon Candida species is identified.
Keywords: Candida; MALDI-TOF MS; identification; sequencing.