Characterization of yeast population and molecular fingerprinting of Candida zeylanoides isolated from goat's milk collected in Sardinia

The occurrence of yeast microflora in raw goat's milk collected from 62 dairy farms located in different areas of Sardinia was evaluated. Candida zeylanoides was the most frequently occurring species followed by different Basidiomycetous species. In the strains isolated some biochemical characteristics of technological interest were investigated and a predominance of lipolytic yeast species was found. We employed a simple method of DNA extraction that in a minimal time and with low-cost provided a high quality of DNA for RAPD analysis of 32 isolates of C. zeylanoides. The primers M13 and CDU were used and at 40% of similarity, two distinct clusters were observed. The presence of C. krissii species was supposed but further molecular studies are needed to exclude the presence of an as-yet-undescribed species.