Abstract: [Objective] To understand the species composition, drug resistance and pathogenicity to mice of yeast-like fungi isolated from pigeons. [Methods] Yeast-like fungi were isolated and purified from the crop samples of meat pigeons. The isolated strains were identified to the genus and species levels by colony morphology observation and ITS sequence analysis, and the drug resistance and pathogenicity of the isolated strains were analyzed. [Results] A total of 28 yeast-like fungi were isolated from 30 samples, belonging to 7 genera and 7 species, including 14 strains of Candida albicans （Candida）, 4 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae （Saccharomyces）, 3 strains of Trichosporon asahii （Trichosporon）, 3 strains of Diutina catenulata （Diutina）, 2 strains of Cutaneotrichosporon cutaneum （Cutaneotrichosporon）, 1 strain of Debaryomyces hansenii （Debaryomyces）, and 1 strain of Wickerhamomyces anomalus （Wickerhamomyces）. All the 7 yeast-like fungi were susceptible to nystatin and clotrimazole, but resistant to other antifungal drugs to varying degrees. C. albicans showed strong pathogenicity to mice, T. asahii exhibited moderate pathogenicity to mice, and the remaining yeast-like fungi displayed opportunistic pathogenicity to mice. [Conclusion] C. albicans is the predominant yeast-like fungal species isolated from pigeons, which exhibits strong pathogenicity, posing a considerable potential threat to the meat pigeon industry. Therefore, prevention and control measures against C. albicans should be strengthened in pigeon farms.

Key words: meat pigeon, yeast-like fungi, isolation and identification, drug resistance, pathogenicity