ABSTRACT
Species of the ascomycetous genus Debaryomyces are among the most common yeasts isolated from many natural habitats such as air, soil, pollen, tree exudates, plants, fruits, insects, feces, gut of vertebrates, and seawater.1 This genus is generally recognized by the production of persistent asci by mother cell-bud conjugation and the formation of warty ascospores, usually one or two per ascus.2 Debaryomyces hansenii is the most important species of the genus and is characterized by its cryo-and halo-tolerance.3,4 This species and its anamorph Candida famata have been isolated from a large diversity of natural sources including fruit, air, water, and soil but most frequently from a wide variety of foods, mainly those with low water activity.5-8
D. hansenii is considered normally as a non-pathogenic yeast9 and has rarely been isolated from humans. However, some clinical cases have been reported with D. hansenii or C. famata, generally in patients with immunological disorders, including bone infection,10 alveolitis,11 septicaemia,12 retinopathy,13 ocular endophthalmitis,14 or central nervous system infection.15
