{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T17:39:40Z","timestamp":1786642780522,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786579200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Fungi","JoF"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: This study evaluated the utility of fluconazole disk diffusion on CHROMagar Candida Plus for differentiating Candidozyma auris from Candida parapsilosis. Methods: In this in vitro study, clinical isolates of both C. auris and C. parapsilosis were used. Antifungal susceptibility testing was performed via broth microdilution and disk diffusion with different fluconazole concentrations on both CHROMagar Candida Plus and RPMI agar. Colony color was also assessed. Results: This study demonstrates high categorical agreement between disk diffusion on CHROMagar Candida Plus and broth microdilution for both species. An optimal cut-off zone diameter of 10 mm was identified on CHROMagar Candida Plus with 50 \u00b5g fluconazole, providing 91% sensitivity and 90% specificity for differentiating the two species. Notably, at 24 h, 83 out of 88 (94.3%) C. auris isolates exhibited a bluish, blue-green, or turquoise coloration on the reverse side of the plate, suggesting that reverse-side colony color on CHROMagar may serve as a supportive phenotypic indicator when combined with disk diffusion testing, to differentiate C. auris from C. parapsilosis in the laboratory setting. Conclusions: Fluconazole disk diffusion on CHROMagar Candida Plus, supplemented by reverse-side colony coloration, offers a practical, low-cost adjunctive strategy to aid in the differentiation of C. auris and C. parapsilosis in clinical laboratories.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jof12080606","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T17:01:35Z","timestamp":1786640495000},"page":"606","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Fluconazole Disk Diffusion on CHROMagar Candida Plus for Differentiation Between Candidozyma auris and Candida parapsilosis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5646-0071","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sarah","family":"Israel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9101002, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 9101002, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0564-4409","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jonathan","family":"Lellouche","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Laboratories Department, Sanz Medical Center, Netanya 4244916, Israel"},{"name":"Adelson School of Medicine, Ariel University, Ariel 4070000, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Loujin","family":"Ardda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9101002, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 9101002, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4389-8896","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ariel","family":"Israel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leumit Research Institute, Leumit Health Services, Tel Aviv 6473817, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Gray Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sharon","family":"Amit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan 5266202, Israel"},{"name":"Gray Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0628-0798","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ronen","family":"Ben-Ami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gray Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel"},{"name":"Infectious Diseases Unit, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4325-5260","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Itzhack","family":"Polacheck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9101002, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 9101002, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jacob","family":"Moran-Gilad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9101002, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 9101002, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3276-0963","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maya","family":"Korem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9101002, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 9101002, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"323","article-title":"Candida auris: The new fungal threat","volume":"31","author":"Pallotta","year":"2023","journal-title":"Infez. 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