Abstract
The effect of visible light on carotenoid content in the dermatophyte Trichophyton mentagrophytes ATCC 26323 was investigated. The fungus T. mentagrophytes accumulated several carotenoids when arthroconidiated on Sabouraud glucose agar at 37°C. When this fungus was irradiated with moderate fluence rates of white light, the resultant arthroconidia contained considerably less carotenoids in comparison with dark controls although growth and arthroconidiation of this fungus were not at all affected by visible light. The reduction of carotenoid content in arthroconidia was due primarily to blue light, although red light caused a slight decrease in pigmentation. The suppressive effect of visible light on pigmentation was fluence rate dependent. Carotenoid accumulation in arthroconidia was inversely and exponentially related to the fluence rate of light. Carotenoid formation in arthroconidiating T. mentagrophytes was neither photoinducible nor photostimulative. An analysis of isolated carotenoids revealed that visible light caused a quantitative reduction in pigmentation, and no single carotenoid was selectively decreased.
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Abbreviations
- PI:
-
pigmentation index
- r :
-
coefficient of correlation
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Mock, R.C., Hashimoto, T. Effect of visible light on carotenogenesis in arthroconidiating Trichophyton mentagrophytes . Arch. Microbiol. 140, 271–275 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00454941
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00454941