Abstract Rapid and accurate identi cation of yeast is increasingly important to stipulate the appro-
priate therapy thus reducing morbidity and mortality related to yeast infections. Vibrational spectro-
scopic techniques (infrared (IR) and Raman) could provide potential alternatives to conventional
typing methods, because they constitute a rapid, inexpensive and highly speci c spectroscopic nger-
print through-which microorganism can be identi ed. The present study evaluate (FTIR) spectros-
copy as a sensitive and effective assay for the identi cation of the most frequent yeast species
isolated from human and animals.One hundred and twenty-eight yeasts isolated from infected human
mouths/vaginas, chronic diseased cows, crop mycosis in chicken and soil contaminated with pigeon
droppings were phenotypically identi ed. Using universal primers, ITS1/ITS4, we have ampli ed
ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA regionsfor39yeast isolates as representative samples. The PCR products were
digested with restriction enzyme MspI and examined by PCR-RFLP, which was an ef cient technique
for identi cation of Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans and Trichosporon asahii. Further, identi-
cation of the same 39 isolates were done by FTIR spectroscopy and considered as reference for other
strains by comparison of their FTIR spectra. The current study has sharply demonstrated the signif-
icant spectral differences between the variousexamined species of Candida, Cryptococcus, Trichospo-
ron, Rhodotorula and Geotrichum isolated from different sources. Decisively, our research has
con rmed that FTIR spectroscopy is a promising diagnostic tool, because of its sensitivity, rapidity,
high differentiation capacity and simplicity compared to conventional/molecular techniques.
FTIR;
Spectroscopy;
Yeasts;
Candida
2013 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo