DNA Barcoding Analysis Confirmed Presence of Cell Wall Deficient Variants of Yeasts in Blood of Autistic Children and Their Mothers

Research on microbial pathogen's dormancy and survival strategy within the host is scarce. Yeast cell wall deficient variants (CWD) can persist in vivo for a long time and contribute to latent and chronic infections. In our study, we isolated yeast CWD variants from the blood of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their mothers. The yeast CWD variants were converted into yeasts with the cell wall and were identified using DNA barcoding – sequence analysis of the variable D1-D2 domains of the nuclear large subunit (LSU nrDNA) and the internally transcribed spacer region ITS1+2 (ITS). All yeast strains were identified as Candida parapsilosis, and the strains were susceptible to six common antifungal agents.