ANTIGENIC RELATIONSHIPS OF TORULOPSIS GLABRATA AND SEVEN SPECIES OF THE GENUS CANDIDA

Torulopsis glabrata, like a number of other yeasts and yeastlike fungi commonly associated with the human body, has been suspected of causing disease. It is an occasional inhabitant of the oral, gastrointestinal, and urinary tracts and most isolates have been obtained from human sources. Wickerham (1957) has presented the identifying characteristics of this yeast, and suggested its recognition as a potential pathogen. Although Wickerham indicated that he had identified strains of T. glabrata isolated from blood cultures, references to these cases were not given. Since T. glabrata is a relative newcomer to the list of potential fungus pathogens, only a few studies with it have been conducted. Benham (1935) reported no pathogenicity for rabbits, but Lodder and DeVries (1938) observed some pathogenicity for rats. Lopez Fernandez (1952) concluded that mice were the most susceptible laboratory animal, and showed that in tissue sections this yeast bore a striking resemblance to Histoplasma capsulatum. The serological studies of Benham (1935) indicated that Candida albicans and T. glabrata possessed common antigens. As reported here, studies of the relationships of T. glabrata to C. albicans, Candida guilliermondii, Candida krusei, Candida parapsilosis, Candida pseudotropicalis, Candida stellatoidea, and Candida tropicalis, indicated the presence of common antigens among these organisms. The data presented in this paper were obtained from tube agglutination reactions.