Molecular diagnosis of candida species which isolated from cattle mastitic milk

Cattle mastitis is considered to be one of the most common diseases in which the dairy industry is economically important and yeasts belonging to the genus Candida may participate as etiological agents. In this study, isolation of Candida species from subclinical mastitic cattle milk, identification of isolates using conventional method, chromogenic agar and sequence analysis was aimed. The material of the study consisted of 400 milk samples belonging to 280 subclinical mastitis in 20 dairy cattle farms. Of the milk samples, 24.0% (96/400) of Candida spp. isolated. By conventional method, 16.7% (16/96) of the isolates were identified as Candida albicans and 83.3% (80/96) were identified as non-albicans. Using chromogenic agar, 49.0% (47/96) [ 21.9% (21/96) Candida krusei, 17.7% (17/96) C. albicans, 9.4% (9/96) Candida tropicalis)] of the isolates were identified; 51.0% (49/96) of the isolates could not be identified. Sequence analysis showed that 22.9% (22/96) of the isolates were Candida parapsilosis, 21.9% (21/96) were C. krusei, 19.8% (19/96) were Candida keyfr, 16.7% (16/96) were C. albicans, 9.4% (9/96) were C. tropicalis, 4.2% (4/96) Candida glabrata, 3.1% (3/96) of Candida guilliermondii, 1.0% (1/96) of Candida lipolytica, and 1.0% (1/96) of Trichosporon asahii. In this study, it was demonstrated that very different Candida species could play a role in the etiology of subclinical mastitis but the main yeast strains causing the infection in this region were found to be non-albicans Candida species. In identification of Candida isolates by the conventional method of C. albicans, by chromogenic agar C. krusei, C. tropicalis and C. albicans species can be identified which is less costly and easier to apply than molecular methods, it was determined that more successful results were obtained with molecular methods in the identification of other Candida species. Careful use of antibiotics with good hygiene and health practices is thought to reduce the incidence of bovine mycotic mastitis. Key words: Candida, subclinical mastitis, identification, chromogenic agar, conventional method, sequence analysis