Phospholipid molecular species distributions of Candida isolates from the UK and Iran A.Z. Mahmoudabadi 1 , V. Boote 2 , J. Verran 3 , E. Johnson 4 and D.B. Drucker 1 1 Oral Microbiology Laboratory, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Manchester, UK, 2 Chemistry Department, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, 3 Department of Biological Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester, UK, and 4 PHLS Mycology Reference Laboratory, Bristol, UK 2002/248: received 23 July 2002, revised 1 July 2003 and accepted 15 July 2003 ABSTRACT A.Z. MAHMOUDABADI, V. BOOTE, J. VERRAN, E. JOHNSON AND D.B. DRUCKER. 2003. Aims: Some species of Candida have been shown to differ with respect to their polar lipid fingerprints when analysed by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FABMS). The aims of this study were to contribute to the existing body of information by (i) examining representatives of species not previously examined and (ii) seeking strains differences associated with country of origin (UK or Iran). Methods and Results: FABMS analysis was performed on extracted lipids of 22 strains representing eight species of Candida. The most abundant anion (19 isolates) in spectra was with mass to charge (m/z) 281, corresponding to C 18:1 carboxylate. The major phospholipid analogue anions were m/z 515 and 501 (13 strains). These anions were putatively identified as the phosphatidyl molecular species PA(23 : 2) and PA(22 : 2) respectively. Data for strain pairs were compared using the Pearson’s coefficient of linear correlation. The values generated were used to cluster strains by nearest-neighbour linkage, using both carboxylate and phospholipid analogue anion data. Isolates of C. parapsilosis were clearly distinct from other isolates. Iranian isolates tended to cluster together when phospholipid anion data were used. However, if carboxylate anion data were used, four Iranian isolates of C. albicans were tightly clustered with three UK isolates, of which two were C. albicans and one was C. dubliniensis. Conclusion: It is concluded that both lower, and higher, mass peaks in FABMS spectra can be of potential value in comparing Candida isolates from different countries and from different species. Significance and Impact of the Study: When polar lipids of different Candida species are compared, it is important to bear in mind that geographical differences affect results as has been observed with bacteria in similar studies. Keywords: Candida, FABMS, fatty acids, Iran, phospholipid molecular species. INTRODUCTION Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FABMS) has permitted rapid analysis of phospholipid analogues of bacteria (Drucker et al. 1996; Tavana et al. 1998, 2000) and of Candida spp. (Abdi and Drucker 1996; Abdi et al. 1999) for chemotaxonomic purposes (Drucker et al. 1996; Tavana et al. 1998). Moreover, FABMS has permitted differentiation of bacterial isolates according to country of origin (Korachi et al. 2001). The genus Candida contains ca 200 species (Barnett et al. 1990) of which seven species are major human opportunistic pathogens, viz. Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, C. krusei, C. guilliermondii, C. kefyr and C. glabrata (Segal Correspondence to: David B. Drucker, Oral Microbiology Laboratory, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, M15 6FH, UK (e-mail: d.drucker@man.ac.uk). ª 2003 The Society for Applied Microbiology Journal of Applied Microbiology 2003, 95, 883–889 doi:10.1046/j.1365-2672.2003.02072.x