Molecular identification and antifungal susceptibility testing of clinical isolates of the Candida rugosa species complex and proposal of the new species Candida neorugosa

Candida rugosa is a poorly known fungal species occasionally involved in human infections. A molecular analysis of the sequences of the D1/D2 domains and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal genes of 24 clinical isolates phenotypically identified as C. rugosa demonstrated that only 10 (41.6%) isolates belonged to that species. The other isolates were identified as Candida pararugosa (41.6%) and Candida pseudorugosa (8.3%). The remaining two isolates, from human and equine infections, respectively, were clearly different from the others and represent a new species proposed here as Candida neorugosa. The closest species by D1/D2 sequences was the type strain of C. rugosa, with only 92.3% similarity. C. neorugosa can also be differentiated from all other species of the C. rugosa complex by phenotypic features. The eight antifungal drugs tested showed high in vitro activity against the 24 isolates included in the study.