Biotyping of pathogenic fungi by the killer system and with monoclonal antibodies

Biotyping of pathogenic yeasts and hyphomycetes based on their susceptibility to selected killer yeasts and their reactivity with monoclonal antibodies are described. Both methods were used to differentiate fungi isolated from patients providing valuable epidemiological information on mycotic infections. The functional biotyping obtained with the two systems and the conventional auxenographic biocoding approaches commercially available for opportunistic yeasts are comparatively evaluated. The potential for biotyping of industrial fungal isolates is also discussed.