Glycocalyx morphology of Candida albicans

✍ Scribed by Wolf Dietrich Krautgartner; Ljubomir Vitkov; Matthias Hannig

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 239 KB
• Volume: 61
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1059-910X
• DOI: 10.1002/jemt.10353

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

In this study, we examine new cytochemical aspects of the fimbria‐mediated adhesion of the oral facultative pathogen Candida albicans. A wild‐type strain of the yeast was grown with and without sucrose supplementation for 8 days. Osmium tetroxide, uranyl acetate (UA), ruthenium red (RR), and cupromeronic blue (CB) staining with critical electrolytic concentrations (CECs) and tannic acid‐metal salt technique (TAMST) were applied to specimens separately or in combination for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) examination. Cytochemically, two types of fimbriae of C. albicans were distinguished: RR‐positive fimbriae of polyanionic glycoconjugates and CB‐positive fimbriae with a ceasing point of 0.3 M MgCl~2~ where no staining of sulfated carboxyl‐rich and/or phospho‐glycoconjugates occurred. Additionally, CB‐positive intercellular fibers were observed, which seemed to be involved in intercellular adhesion. The present protocol enables, for the first time, a partial cytochemical differentiation between at least two kinds of yeast fimbriae. Microsc. Res. Tech. 61:409–413, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.