Abstract: Candida albicans was significant hazard for human and poultry throughout the world. This study is
designed to investigate the prevalence of different members of Candida spp. in chicken and human and genetic
characterization of isolated C. albicans. Two hundred swab samples (n=200) were collected from chicken crops
(n=100), human vaginal swab (n=50) and human nasal swabs (n=50) between August 2018 to February 2019 from
different localities in Cairo Governorate, Egypt. The swabs were subjected to Candida isolation and identification
by using direct microscopy, conventional culture methods and Rap ID Yeast plus System®. Furthermore, they
identified by sequencing of αINT1 gene and RAPD PCR to investigate the genetic relatedness of C. albicans strains
recovered from chicken and human origins. From the examined chicken crop swab (8/36, 22.2%) were positive of C.
albicans isolation. In addition, (5/25, 20%) were positive of C. albicans isolation from the examined human vaginal
swabs. Moreover, the examined human nasal swab (0/8) was negative for C. albicans. While, two C. albicans strains
(one from chicken origin and one from human origin) were subjected to αINT1 gene sequence analysis, which
revealed that C. albicans from chicken origin were genetically distinct from that of the human origin. Nucleotide
sequence analysis showed the rate of similarity greater than (97.15 %) for the entire alpha-INT1p (LH1 and LH2)
gene sequence from 2 strains of C. albicans. While, amino acid sequence analysis showed the rate of similarity
greater than (93.27%) for the entirealpha-INT1p (LH1 and LH2) gene sequence from C. albicans strains.
Additionally, RAPD PCR clarified the heterogeneity among human and chicken C. albicans isolates. This study is
of outmost importance regarding the role of molecular biology technique in detection the sources of C. albicans
which help for effective diagnosis and differentiation between chicken origin and human origin. |
