Objectives: To investigate the genetic diversity of Candida albicans associated with vaginal and systemic candidiasis in Guiyang, China; and to analyze the relationship between genotype distribution and geographic location of C.albicans.Methods: 191 Candida strains were isolated from clinical sources in Guiyang, China in 2009.The isolates were from vaginal swabs of patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) and sputum, blood and urine of patients with systemic Candida infections.These strains were identified based on single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and sequence analyses of rDNA ITS region.Genotyping of C.albicans was performed using SSCP and Genescan analyses of the microsatellite locus CAI.Results: 158 of the Candida strains were identified as C.albicans.26 and 28 distinct CAI genotypes of the C.albicans strains associated VVC and systemic candidiasis were identified, respectively.The genotypes of the systemic candidiasis strains showed high polymorphism, while genotype CAI 30-45 and similar types dominated in the VVC strains with a frequency of approximately 70%.In addition, the lengths (numbers of trinucleotide repeats) of microsatellite CAI from VVC strains were usually longer than those from strains associated with systematic candidiasis.Conclusion: The results indicated that PCR SSCP analysis of CAI microsatellite is a powerful and economical approach for rapid strain typing of C.albicans in clinical laboratories, especially in the detection of microevolutionary changes in microsatellites and in large-scale epidemiological investigation.Compared to the previous studies in other areas or countries, our study implies that the genotype distribution of C.albicans strains may not be the same in different regions.Investigation of the genotype distribution of C.albicans strains from clinical sources will be helpful in elucidating the origins of infection.