[kan′-di-də], from the Latin—candidus (glowing white)
A genus of yeastlike Fungi Imperfecti (for which no sexual reproductive stage is known) of the family Cryptococcaceae that produce yeast cells, mycelia, pseudomycelia, and blastospores. When grown in the laboratory, Candida appears as large, round, white or cream colonies on agar plates. C. albicans infection (or thrush) features distinctive white mouth lesions; “albicans” means becoming white. C. dubliniensis, first identified in 1995 at the University of Dublin, is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause both superficial and invasive infections, particularly in the immunocompromised.
Footnotes
Sources: Dorland’s illustrated medical dictionary. 30th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2003; Sullivan, DJ, Westerneng TJ, Haynes KA, Bennett DE, Coleman DC. Candida dubliniensis sp. nov.: phenotypic and molecular characterisation of a novel species associated with oral candidosis in HIV-infected individuals. Microbiology 1995;141:1507–121.