Correlation between broth microdilution and disk diffusion methods for antifungal susceptibility testing of caspofungin, voriconazole, amphotericin B, itraconazole and fluconazole against Candida glabrata.

Candida glabrata is one of the most frequent organisms isolated from superficial and invasive fungal infections, after Candida albicans. This organism also exhibits intrinsically low susceptibility to azole antifungals and treatment often fails. The microdilution method is not very practical for use in routine susceptibility testing in the clinical laboratory, thus necessitating the use of other methods. In this study, we compared the in vitro activity of five antifungal agents in three different groups (echinocandin, polyene and azole) against 50 C. glabrata isolates by broth microdilution and disk diffusion methods recommended by Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute CLSI M27-A3 and CLSI M44-A, respectively. All the isolates were susceptible to amphotericin B (100%) and 98% of the isolates were susceptible to caspofungin by the broth microdilution method. Within the azole group drugs, voriconazole was the most active followed by fluconazole and itraconazole in vitro. The highest rate of resistance was obtained against itraconazole with a high number of isolates defined as susceptible-dose dependent or resistant. Although the disk diffusion method is easy to use in clinical laboratories, it shows very poor agreement with the reference method for fluconazole and itraconazole against C. glabrata (8% and 14%, respectively).

Selection of newly isolated mushroom strains for tolerance and biosorption of zinc in vitro.

Nine newly isolated mushroom strains were tested to assess both their zinc tolerance and potential for zinc removal from an aqueous solution. Four strains of ectomycorrhizal fungi, namely Clavariadelphus truncatus (T 192), Rhizopogon roseolus (T 21), Lepista nuda (T 373), and Tricholoma equestre (T 174), along with five strains of white rot fungi, Lenzites betulina (S 2), Trametes hirsuta (T 587), Ganoderma spp. (T 99), Polyporus arcularius (T 438), and Ganoderma carnosum (M 88), were investigated using zinc-amended solid and liquid media. Their biosorption properties were also determined. The colony diameter and dry weight were used as tolerance indices for fungal growth. C. truncatus and T. equestre were not strongly inhibited at the highest concentrations of (225 mg/l) zinc in solid media. The most tolerant four strains with solid media, C. truncatus, G. carnosum, T. hirsuta, and T. equestre, were then chosen for tolerance tests in liquid media. An ectomycorrhizal strain, C. truncatus, was also detected as the most tolerant strain in liquid media. However, the metal-tolerant strains demonstrated weak activity in the biosorption studies. In contrast, the highest biosorption activity was presented by a more sensitive strain, G. carnosum. In addition, seven different biosorbent types from G. carnosum (M 88) were compared for their Zn (II) biosorption in batch experiments.