Determination of virulence factors in candida albicans isolated from cattle with mastitis

In recent years, the importance of yeast in the etiology of bovine mastitis is increasing. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Candida albicans in milk samples collected from cows with mastitis, to identify the phenotypic and genotypic methods and to determine the virulence factors. According to the results of the surveys, 686 milk samples were collected from 178 animals with mastitis problems from 20 dairy cattle farms. Forty nine yeast isolates were obtained from these samples. Five isolates were identified as C. albicans with phenotypic tests (germ tube test, chlamydospor formation, chromogenic medium and reproduction at 45°C). Five isolates that were found to be phenotypically C. albicans were confirmed by PCR using specific primers for the C. albicans CALB1 gene. It was determined that 2 (%40) of the C. albicans isolates had ALS1 and PLB1, 1 (%20) had ALS1 and 1 (%20) had PLB1 genes and no gene were not found in 1 (%20) isolate. When the biofilm formation properties of C. albicans isolates were examined by tube adherence method, it was determined that 3 (%60) isolates were strong, 1 (%20) isolate was weak positive and 1 (%20) isolate was negative. In conclusion, in the C. albicans isolates which were isolated from cows with mastitis had ALS1 and PLB1 genes and biofilm formation. Keywords: Biofilm, Candida albicans, Mastitis, Virulence genes