Study the effect of some physical factors on three isolations of Candida albicans isolated from Iraqi patients

Abstract

Background: The Candida spp. is considered an opportunistic fungi, as the infection increases when the immune system is weakened due to the exposure of the host to diseases or as a result of diabetes, immunodeficiency, cancerous diseases, or organ transplantation. Methods: The phenotypic and microscopic diagnosis methods for three isolates of Candida albicans isolated from different hospitals in Iraq were conducted along with the Vitek2 Compact System, then the diagnosis of isolated yeasts was confirmed based on PCR technology. The physical factors study was conducted to show the effect of temperature, pH concentration, and CO₂ ratio on the three isolates of Candida albicans. Results: The three isolates contained one single bundle of extracted DNA. The PCR products using the fungal primer pair (ITS1, ITS4) showed the production of a single band for the three isolates of Candida albicans of 535bp. While the effect of high temperature on isolates, the best rate of growth was at 37°C, whereas isolate K8 recorded the highest growth rate then isolate B17 and T5, and no growth was recorded for the three isolates at 45°C. As for the effect of pH, the results showed that the best growth was at pH 6.2, where the highest growth rate was in isolate K8, followed by isolate T5 and then isolate B17. The results showed that a high percentage of CO₂ harmed the growth rate, the best growth rate for all isolates was at a concentration of 0.03% of carbon dioxide. The highest growth rate was recorded in isolates K8, followed by B17 and then T5, while the lowest growth rate of isolates was at a concentration of 15% of carbon dioxide, as isolates recorded K8, followed by B17, then T5. Conclusions: In this study we found that Candida albicans has a gene expression of 535bp and there were effects of some physical factors characteristics on three isolates of pathogenic Candida albicans.