Misidentification of a Rare Species, Cryptococcus laurentii, by Commonly Used Commercial Biochemical Methods and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry Systems: Challenges for Clinical Mycology Laboratories

Meng Xiao; Xin Fan; Xin-Xin Chen; He Wang; Li Zhang; Zhi-Peng Xu; Timothy Kudinha; Fanrong Kong; Ying-Chun Xu

doi:10.1128/JCM.02830-15

Misidentification of a Rare Species, Cryptococcus laurentii, by Commonly Used Commercial Biochemical Methods and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry Systems: Challenges for Clinical Mycology Laboratories

J Clin Microbiol. 2016 Jan;54(1):226-9. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02830-15. Epub 2015 Nov 11.

Authors

Meng Xiao¹, Xin Fan¹, Xin-Xin Chen¹, He Wang¹, Li Zhang¹, Zhi-Peng Xu¹, Timothy Kudinha², Fanrong Kong³, Ying-Chun Xu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Charles Sturt University, Leeds Parade, Orange, New South Wales, Australia Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, ICPMR-Pathology West, Westmead Hospital, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, ICPMR-Pathology West, Westmead Hospital, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China xycpumch@139.com.

Abstract

Forty-two putative Cryptococcus laurentii isolates identified by the Vitek 2 system were collected in China. The gold standard, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing, confirmed that only two isolates were genuine C. laurentii. Bruker Biotyper matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry was able to identify the C. laurentii isolates with an expanded custom database.

MeSH terms

China
Cluster Analysis
Cryptococcosis / diagnosis*
Cryptococcus / classification*
Cryptococcus / isolation & purification*
DNA, Fungal / chemistry
DNA, Fungal / genetics
DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / chemistry
DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / genetics
Diagnostic Errors*
Humans
Molecular Sequence Data
Mycological Typing Techniques / methods*
Phylogeny
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / methods*

Substances

DNA, Fungal
DNA, Ribosomal Spacer