Multilocus sequence typing of serial Candida albicans isolates from children with cancer , children with cystic fi brosis and healthy controls

on the Candida fl ora in children with cancer, cystic fi brosis (CF), and healthy subjects in Norway, we found that many of the children in all three study groups carried C. albicans repeatedly in their feces and/or tonsillopharynx over months and even years [6]. Several molecular studies on the adult population have shown that most individuals harbor the same C. albicans clone over time, although small variations, e.g., microvariations, are common [7,8]. Pediatric studies are, however, mainly lacking. Over the last decades, various molecular typing methods have been developed to study the epidemiology of C. albicans . It has become evident that multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is well suited for population analysis of C. albicans [9], as well as for global surveillance of genotypes via a central database on the internet [10]. In addition, longitudinal analyses have also indicated that MLST Received 23 November 2011 ; Received in fi nal revised form 13 February 2012; Accepted 8 March 2012 Correspondence: Karianne Wiger Gammelsrud, Department of Pediatrics, Oslo University Hospital, Ullev å l, PO Box 4956, NO0424 Oslo, Norway. Tel:  47 95907911. Fax:  47 22118663. E-mail: k.w.gammelsrud@medisin.uio.no Multilocus sequence typing of serial Candida albicans isolates from children with cancer, children with cystic fi brosis and healthy controls