The yeast community associated with the digestive tract of the German cockroach Blattella germanica L

: Data on the yeasts colonizing the digestive tract ofa German cockroach have been first obtained. Cockroach cultures are used in the commercial production of allergy vaccines to treat patients sensitized to cockroach allergens. The enteric microflora of the insects can bring nonshared antigens into the composition of the agents manufactured. An investigation established that out of 10 yeast species isolated from the digestive tract of the cockroaches fed sterile food, 6 species (Candida glabrata, Cryptococcus magnus, Debaryomyces hansenii, Metschikowia pulcherrima, Phodo-torula glutinis, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa) were isolated from both the digestive tract and excrements and 4 (Candida oleophila, Candida shehatae, Cryptococcus albidus, Pichia membmnaefciens) were only from the digestive tract. It seems that the yeast is either digested or inactivated in the digestive tract of the insects and loses their capacity to grow When the cockroaches were fed sterile food for a long time (at least a month), all yeasts virtually disappeared from the digestive tract of the insects except for Candida glabrata, C.shehatae, and Rh.mucilaginosa. However, only C.glabrata achieved a great deal (10(7)-10(8) CFU/g) of cockroaches (both imagoes and larvae of 5-7 ages), which statistically significantly decreased by no less than three orders of magnitude in the excrements after passing through the digestive tract.