New risk assessment of a facultative pathogenic yeast

Lodderomyces elongisporus is an optional pathogenic yeast the family Debaryomycetaceae , which has so far been isolated from fruit juice, residues from palm oil production and pigeon droppings, among other sources. Recent findings in the clinical context have shown that the yeast causes fungemia in humans, some of which have been fatal. The fungemia was observed primarily in immunosuppressed individuals or diabetes mellitus patients. In addition, patients after catheter treatment or surgical interventions on blood vessels or the heart were also affected by fungemia due to L. elongisporus And even in people with healthy immune systems, L. elongisporus In addition, it was possible to diagnose fungal infections caused by L. elongisporus also a Animal pathogenicity The yeast caused dermatitis and alopecia in a porcupine and pericarditis and endocarditis in a dog. Regarding drug treatment, L. elongisporus mostly sensitive to amphotericin, micafungin, and caspofungin. The success of treatment with fluconazole, however, varied. Regarding the detection of L. elongisporus This yeast is compatible with conventional Diagnostic methods based solely on physiological characteristics make it difficult to distinguish yeasts from other pathogenic yeasts. Therefore, specific methods such as matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and/or amplification fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses are required for reliable detection.

In TRBA 460 “Classification of mushrooms” L. elongisporus assigned to risk group 1+ (the suffix “+” indicates: “Proven or suspected as a pathogen in isolated cases, cases of illness mostly only in people with compromised immune systems; however, identification of the species is often not reliable”). In its statement, the ZKBS classifies Lodderomyces elongisporus according to Section 5 Paragraph 1 GenTSV in conjunction with the criteria in Annex 1 GenTSV as a donor and recipient organism for genetic engineering work in the Risk group 2 The facultative pathogenic yeast can (in rare cases) also cause disease in immunocompetent humans and animals. It is also assumed that L. elongisporus in the past, due to its similarity to other pathogenic yeasts, it was not diagnosed as frequently in the clinical context.

The complete ZKBS statement can be found at File number 45243.0128 can be retrieved.