Quantification of medically important Candida species and Torulopsis glabrata by a spiral inoculation system: correlation with pour plate and spread plate methods.

A new method of quantifying Candida spp. and Torulopsis glabrata suspensions, the spiral inoculation system, was studied to compare its accuracy, efficiency, and cost with the standard pour plating and spread plating methods. Concentrations of yeast suspensions ranging from 10(2) to 10(5) CFU were quantified simultaneously by the three methods. Linear regression analysis was used to determine the correlation between the spiral inoculation system and pour plating and between the spiral system and spread plating for Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. krusei, and T. glabrata. Spiral system and pour plating techniques correlated very well for all species, as did the spiral system and spread plating techniques (r greater than 0.95; P greater than 0.001).