Molecular Identification of Cryptococcus albidus Isolated from a Gingivitis Infection in a Male from Karbala City, Iraq

The current study presents a case of gingivitis caused by Cryptococcus albidus in a 35-year-old male from the city of Karbala in Iraq. This fungal species was identified via morphology, microscopy, additionally to the VITEK system. C. albidus was further confirmed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique by amplifying the 18S rRNA gene as a universal primer and sequencing. Sequences analysis revealed that this strain of C. albidus had not been previously documented in the NCBI database. Hence, the newly obtained sequences were submitted to the GenBank repository and assigned the accession number OQ975882.1, marking the first report of this strain at this region.