Rhodotorula mucilaginosa Fungemia and Pleural Tuberculosis in an Immunocompetent Patient: An Uncommon Association

Draft Genome Sequence of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa from an Adult Patient in Qatar

Rhodotorula mucilaginosa is an opportunistic fungal pathogen of public health importance. We present the draft genome sequence of an isolate (Rhodo3571) cultured from an immunocompetent patient. The isolate is similar to other R. mucilaginosa genomes in the NCBI database. Presented here are the genome assembly and its comparison to other reference genomes.

Central line-associated Rhodotorula mucilaginosa fungemia in an immunocompetent host: Case report and review of the literature

Rhodotorula mucilaginosa is an emerging fungal infection with the ability of biofilms formation. The identification of R mucilaginosa fungemia should trigger reflexes of prompt central venous line removal and using Amphotericin therapy.

Yeasts from skin colonization are able to cross the acellular dermal matrix

In recent decades, the prognosis for burn patients has improved considerably with the development of specialized care. The acellular dermal matrix (ADM) is a totally artificial acellular device that functions to control water loss, prevent penetration by bacteria and allow migration of endothelial cells and fibroblasts from patient tissues. However, little is known about its effectiveness against yeasts. The present study evaluated the capacity of colonization and migration of some human commensal yeasts. Three clinical isolates from skin scales, identified as Candida parapsilosis, Candida glabrata and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, were used. Their ability to cross the ADM was evaluated. After three days, all isolates had crossed the ADM. C. parapsilosis showed the lowest growth, while R. mucilaginosa showed intermediate and C. glabrata the highest growth. In the plates incubated for seven days, the growth of C. parapsilosis and C. glabrata increased by 1 log over the third day. All isolates have the capacity to colonize and migrate through the matrix, increasing the potential risk to burn patients, who can develop severe and even fatal infections by invasive fungi.

Virulence and antifungal therapy of murine disseminated infection by Rhodotorula mucilaginosa

Rhodotorula infections have emerged in recent years causing mainly fungemia associated to high mortality. We have evaluated the in vitro activity of nine antifungal drugs against four clinical strains of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, being amphotericin B, voriconazole and posaconazole the most active compounds. The experimental virulence of this fungus and the efficacy of the three mentioned drugs were evaluated in disseminated infections in neutropenic mice. Infection resulted in a high fungal load in all the organs studied without evident particular tropism. All treated animals showed reduced burden respect to the control in a strain dependent manner being voriconazole slightly superior to posaconazole and amphotericin B.