Clavispora lusitaniae

Synonymy:
Candida lusitaniae

Clavispora lusitaniae is a known cause of disseminated candidiasis, including septicaemia and pyelonephritis.

C. lusitaniae was first isolated from the digestive tract of warm-blooded animals and environmental isolations have been made from cornmeal, citrus peel, fruit juices, and milk from cows with mastitis.

RG-2 organism.

Culture:
Colonies (SDA) white to cream-coloured smooth, glabrous, yeast-like.

Microscopy:
Ovoid to ellipsoidal budding blastoconidia, 1.5-6.0 x 2.5-10µm.

India Ink Preparation:
Negative - no capsules present.

Dalmau Plate Culture:
Abundant pseudohyphae with short chains of blastoconidia.

Molecular Identification:
ITS sequencing recommended.

MALDI-TOF MS:
Able to accurately identify this species.

Physiological Tests: + Positive, - Negative, v Variable, w Weak, s Slow, nd No Data
Germ Tube	-	L-Sorbose	+	L-Arabinose	v	D-Glucitol	+
Fermentation		Sucrose	+	D-Arabinose	-	𝝰-M-D-Glucoside	v
Glucose	+	Maltose	+	D-Ribose	-	D-Gluconate	s
Galactose	v	Cellobiose	+	L-Rhamnose	v	DL-Lactate	+,w
Sucrose	v	Trehalose	+	D-Glucosamime	-	myo-Inositol	-
Maltose	v	Lactose	-	N-A-D-glucosamine	+	2-K-D-Gluconate	+
Lactose	-	Melibiose	-	Glycerol	+	D-Glucuronate	nd
Trehalose	v	Raffinose	-	Erythritol	-	Nitrate	-
Assimilation		Melezitose	+	Ribitol	s	Urease	-
Glucose	+	Soluble Starch	-	Galactitol	-	0.1% Cycloheximide	-
Galactose	+	D-Xylose	+	D-Mannitol	+	Growth at 40C	+

Key Features:
Germ tube negative yeast and sugar assimilation pattern. Note: C. lusitaniae may also be difficult to distinguish from Candida tropicalis using some yeast identification systems.

Antifungal susceptibility: *Candida lusitaniae* (Diekema et al., 2009, Pfaller et al., 2013a,b; Australian national data); MIC µg/mL.
Antifungal	No	≤0.016	0.03	0.06	0.125	0.25	0.5	1	2	4	8	16	32	≥64
AMB	308		1	9	35	110	116	28	7		1	1
FLU	392			13	39	87	119	59	38	12	5	6	5	9
ISAV	77	26	28	15	5	1	2
VORI	378	304	33	17	7	7	6	3		1
POSA	375	66	116	123	39	22	5	4
ITRA	194	4	7	30	73	42	22	11	4	1
ANID	298	1	3	18	81	96	80	16	3
MICA	282	3	29	75	89	61	16	7	2
CAS	247	2	4	12	86	91	38	12	1	1
5FC	139		15	111	3	2	3				1		2	2

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