Once in a while, my colleagues and I notice uncommon names on our MALDI-TOF results. This particular organism came from the urine culture of a middle-aged male.
At first glance, we figured it was a type of fungus. To satisfy our curiosity, we searched the web for Lodderomyces elongisporus. Here are some results from our preliminary digging. (See source1 and source2)
It's a bloodstream pathogen.
It was the teleomorph (sexual state) of Candida parapsilosis until molecular data proved otherwise. The difference is in their rRNA.It's probably safe to assume L. elongisporus has near-identical biochemical and phenotypic qualities compared to C. parapsilosis.
If we check out CDC's list, that's consistent with the claims that they aren't the same organism.
Here's another trait: L. elongisporous produces a pretty turquoise color when growing on Chrome agar.
So, what does it mean for the patient? Since we didn't have a complete history, we couldn't tell he was suffering from fungemia. Although, it's not uncommon to find the same pathogen in a patient's urine if they were to suffer from sepsis.
How did the MALDI-TOF manage to identify this organism? I figured the piece that distinguished it from C. parapsilosis might have been content from the ribosome.
Anyways, it was a learning moment at work.
Posted with STEMGeeks
