Yeasts — Modes of Infection — Host Reactions

Abstract

Candida albicans (Robin) Berkhout (Fig.3–10) described by Robin as Oidium albicans in 1853 and by Berkhout as Candida albicans in 1923, has had at least a hundred names bestowed on it down the years (Kreger-van Rij 1984). It is a dimorphic asporogenic yeast. Candida albicans can develop typical growth patterns in different in vitro and in vivo conditions as shown by Preusser (1982) in superb photographs. On peptone-glucose agar (e.g. Sabouraud’s 2% glucose agar) Candida albicans normally grows in the form of round to oval budding cells (blastospores, Y= yeast form), approx. 4–8–10 μm in size (Fig. 5). Blastospores are regarded as saprophytic variants in the body. Macroscopically, colonies on Sabouraud’s 2% glucose agar appear ivory in color, usually with a waxy sheen and without aerial mycelium. They have a typical odor.