Open AccessVariability of colonial morphology in benomyl‐induced morphological mutants from Candida albicans
Author(s) -
Pomés Rosalina,
Gil Concepción,
Cabetas M.D.,
Nombela César
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1987.tb02552.x
Subject(s) - benomyl , mutant , morphology (biology) , biology , candida albicans , phenotype , filamentation , strain (injury) , microbiology and biotechnology , wild type , genetics , botany , gene , anatomy , laser , physics , optics , fungicide
Colonies of Candida albicans wild‐type strain 1001 were white and glossy, and this character was rather stably maintained. In contrast, 2 benomyl (methyl benzimidazole‐2‐yl‐carbamate)‐induced mutant strains, B17 and B14, that grew as long filamentous forms and displayed a rough‐wrinkled colonial phenotype, switched to other colonial morphologies at significant frequencies. Clonal populations of B17 segregated smooth or sectored (rough/smooth) colonies at a frequency of 1.85%, when plated in nutrient‐agar. Strains derived from these rough or smooth segregants switched back to one or the other phenotype at similar frequencies. Colonial variability in C. albicans B14 was not restricted to spontaneous switching from rough to smooth or vice versa, but eventually other types of variants, characterized as ‘wavy’ and ‘fuzzy’ were obtained, and shown to have their own capacity to switch. Smooth variants, derived from B14, were essentiallt unicellular, whereas fuzzy strains consisted only of long thin filaments, wavy and rough clones apparently being intermediate in their degree of filamentation. It is concluded that the capacity for colonial variation shown to exist in natural isolates could be activated by benomyl in others, such as 1001, which are quite stable and do not switch colonial morphology spontaneously.