Abstract: Objective To improve the method of identifying Candida albicans.Methods A new medium consisting of milk powder,Tween 80 and agar(milk tween agar,MTA) was designed for the development of both germ tube and chlamydoconidia by C-albicans In total 103 isolates,including C-albicans(88),C-guilliermondii(3),C-krusei(3),C-parapsilosis(3),C-tropicalis(3),and C-keytr(3) were cultured on this medium,compared with those on corn meal tween agar medium or inactivated human sera.Results The germ tube production by C-albicans was seen in 69 out of 88 strains on MTA medium C-albicans was found to be able to produce a higher percentage of chlamydoconidia(85.2%) after 24 hour incubation in MTA medium than in the conventional corn meal tween 80 medium(46.6%).Conclusion The new medium gives a signficantly higher percentage of germ tube and chlamydoconidia production,and can be used in the clinical mycology laboratory.

Key words: Candida albicans, Chlamydoconidia Germ, tube