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.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aronson, J. M., Preston, R. D., 1960: The microfibrillar structure of the cell walls of the filamentous fungusAllomyces. J. biophys. biochem. Cytol.8, 247–256.
Bacon, J. S. D., Davidson, E. D., Jones, D., Taylor, I. F., 1966: The location of chitin in the yeast cell wall. Biochem. J.101, 36c-38c.
Beran, K., Holan, Z., Baldrian, J., 1972: The chitin-glucan complex inSaccharomyces cerevisiae. 1 IR and X-ray observations. Folia Microbiol.17, 322–330.
Bracker, C. E., Ruiz-Herrera, J., Bartnicki-Garcia, S., 1976: Structure and transformation of chitin synthase particles (chitosomes) during microfibril synthesisin vitro. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., U.S.A.73, 4570–4574.
Burnett, J. H., 1979: Aspects of the structure and growth of hyphal walls. In: Fungal Walls and Hyphal Growth (Burnett, J. H., Trinci, A. P. J., eds.), pp. 1–25. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Carbonell, L. M., Kanetsuna, F., Gil, F., 1970: Chemical morphology of glucan and chitin in the cell wall of the yeast phase ofParacoccidiodes brasiliensis. J. Bact.101, 636–642.
Chattaway, F. W., Holmes, M. R., Barlow, A. J. E., 1968: Cell wall composition of the mycelial and blastospore forms ofCandida albicans. J. gen. Microbiol.51, 367–376.
Cohen, E., 1982:In vitro chitin synthesis: formation and structure of microfibrils. Eur. J. Cell Biol.16, 289–294.
Correa, J. U., Elango, N., Polacheck, I., Cabib, E., 1982: Endochitinase, a mannan-associated enzyme fromSaccharomyces cerevisiae. J. biol. Chem.257, 1392–1397.
Domer, J. E., 1971: Monosaccharide and chitin content of cell walls ofHistoplasma capsulatum andBlastomyces dermatitidis. J. Bact.107, 870–877.
—,Hamilton, J. G., Harkin, J. C., 1967: Comparative study of the cell walls of the yeastlike and mycelial phases ofHistoplasma capsultatum. J. Bact.94, 466–474.
Elango, N., Correa, J. U., Cabib, E., 1982: Secretory character of yeast chitinase. J. biol. Chem.257, 1398–1400.
Emmons, C. W., Binford, C. H., Utz, J. P., Kwon-Chung, K. J., 1977: Medical Mycology, Third edition. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger.
Gooday, G. W., deRousset-Hall, A., 1975: Properties of chitin synthase fromCoprinus cinereus. J. gen. Microbiol.89, 137–145.
Gow, N. A. R., Gooday, G. W., Newsam, R. J., Gull, K., 1980: Ultrastructure of the septum ofCandida albicans. Curr. Microbiol.4, 357–359.
Hayashibe, M., Katohda, S., 1973: Initiation of budding and chitin-ring. J. gen. appl. Microbiol.19, 23–39.
Houwink, A. L., Kreger, D. R., 1953: Observations on the cell wall of yeasts. An electron microscope and X-ray diffraction study. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek19, 1–24.
Hunsley, D., Burnett, J. H., 1968: Dimensions of microfibrillar elements in fungal walls. Nature (London)218, 462–463.
— —, 1970: The ultrastructural architecture of the walls of some hyphal fungi. J. gen. Microbiol.62, 203–218.
Kanetsuna, F., 1981: Ultrastructural studies on the dimorphism ofParacoccidiodes brasiliensis, Blastomyces dermatitidis, andHistoplasma capsulatum. Sabouraudia19, 275–286.
—,Carbonell, L. M., Moreno, R. E., Rodriguez, J., 1969: Cell wall composition of the yeast and mycelial forms ofParacoccidiodes brasiliensis J. Bact.97, 1036–1041.
— —,Gil, F., Azuma, I., 1974: Chemical and ultrastructural studies on the cell wall of the yeastlike and mycelial forms ofHistoplasma capsulatum. Mycopath. Mycol. appl.54, 1–13.
Kreger, D. R., Kopecka, M., 1975: On the nature and formation of the fibrillar nets produced by protoplasts ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae in liquid media: an electron microscopic, X-ray diffraction and chemical study. J. gen. Microbiol.92, 207–220.
Kwon-Chung, K. J., 1973: Studies onEmmonsiella capsulata 1. Heterothallism and development of the ascocarp. Mycologia65, 109–121.
Michalenko, G. O., Hohl, H. R., Rast, D., 1976: Chemistry and architecture of the mycelial wall ofAgaricus bisporus. J. gen. Microbiol.92, 251–262.
Mills, G. L., Cantino, E. C., 1981: Chitosome-like vesicles from gamma particles ofBlastocladiella emersonii synthesize chitin. Arch. Microbiol.130, 72–77.
Michell, A. J., Scurfield, G., 1967: Composition of extracted fungal cell walls as indicated by infrared spectroscopy. Arch. Biochem. Biophys.120, 628–632.
— —, 1970: An assessment of infrared spectra as indicators of fungal cell wall composition. Aust. J. biol. Sci.23, 345–360.
Ruiz-Herrera, J., Bartnicki-Garcia, S., 1974: Synthesis of cell wall microfibrilsin vitro by a “soluble” chitin synthetase fromMucor rouxii. Science186, 357–359.
— —,Bracker, C. E., 1980: Dissociation of chitosomes into 16S subunits with chitin synthetase activity. Biochim. biophys. Acta629, 201–216.
San-Blas, G., Carbonell, L. M., 1974: Chemical and ultrastructural studies on the cell wall of the yeastlike and mycelial forms ofHistoplasma farciminosum. J. Bact.119, 602–611.
San-Blas, F., San-Blas, G., Cova, L. J., 1976: A morphological mutant ofParacoccidiodes brasiliensis strain IVIC Pb9. Isolation and wall characterisation. J. gen. Microbiol.93, 209–218.
Seichertova, O., Beran, K., Holan, Z., Pokorny, U., 1973: The chitin-glucan complex ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae. Folia Microbiol.18, 207–211.
Sietsma, J. H., Wessels, J. G. H., 1979: Evidence for covalent linkages between chitin and (β glucan in a fungal wall. J. gen. Microbiol.114, 99–108.
— —, 1981: Solubility of (1-3)-β-D/(1-6)-β-D-glucan in fungal walls: importance of presumed linkage between chitin and glucan. J. gen. Microbiol.125, 209–212.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
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
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01293580