Violet colonies of Talaromyces marneffei produce on CHROMagar candida medium

Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2021 Dec;101(4):115533. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2021.115533. Epub 2021 Sep 4.

Abstract

In the present report, we describe an unusual case of mixed infection of Candida albicans and Talaromyces marneffei in the oral cavity and oropharynx with cutaneous involvement. On the CHROMagar Candida plate, green colonies (identified as C. albicans) and tiny violet colonies (identified as T. marneffei) grew from the throat swab after incubation for 96 hours. 10 clinical isolates of T. marneffei were used to verify their color production on CHROMagar Candida. All colonies were violet on the fourth, seventh and ninth day incubated at 37 °C. T. marneffei appears violet on the CHROMagar Candida plate, but it may be easily ignored because of its slow growth and small colony size, especially after incubation for 48 hours. Therefore, when using CHROMagar Candida plate to detect specimens in AIDS patients, special attention must be paid to detect non-yeasts such as T. marneffei for up to 96 hours.

Keywords: AIDS; Chromogenic Candida Agar; Talaromyces marneffei.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / diagnosis
  • AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / microbiology
  • Agar
  • Candida albicans / growth & development
  • Candida albicans / isolation & purification*
  • Coinfection / diagnosis*
  • Coinfection / microbiology
  • Culture Media
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mouth / microbiology
  • Mycological Typing Techniques
  • Mycoses / diagnosis*
  • Mycoses / microbiology
  • Oropharynx / microbiology
  • Talaromyces / growth & development
  • Talaromyces / isolation & purification*
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Culture Media
  • Agar

Supplementary concepts

  • Talaromyces marneffei