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Ultrastructure of chitin in hyphae ofCandida albicans and other dimorphic and mycelial fungi

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Summary

Chitin microfibrils exposed by chemical extraction of hyphal walls ofCandida albicans, Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Paracoccidiodes brasiliensis, Coprinus cinereus andMucor mucedo were of variable morphology but gave identical infrared spectra and behaved as pure chitin in chromatographic analyses. The microfibrils of the four dimorphic fungi studied were shorter than those in the mouldsC. cinereus andM. mucedo but were similar to those reported for the yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiae. InC. albicans the microfibrils in the septal plates of hyphae were predominantly tangentially orientated and were longer than those in the lateral walls. Microfibrils produced by chitin synthasein vitro were very much longer than any observed from hyphal preparations.

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Gow, N.A.R., Gooday, G.W. Ultrastructure of chitin in hyphae ofCandida albicans and other dimorphic and mycelial fungi. Protoplasma 115, 52–58 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01293580

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01293580

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