Bottone E J, Horga M, Abrams J
Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY 10029, USA.
Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1999 May;34(1):27-32. doi: 10.1016/s0732-8893(99)00013-9.
Candida albicans normally produces blastoconidia measuring 2 to 8 microns in diameter. Markedly enlarged "giant" (approximately 30 microns) blastoconidia of a C. albicans isolate (designated BH) were observed after growth on commercially prepared chocolate agar already supplemented with IsoVitalex (BBL-Microbiology Systems, Cockeysville, MD, USA). Morphologically, "giant" blastoconidia presented a spectrum of forms such as blastoconidia with linear creases, with a single broad-based bud resembling Blastomyces dermatididis, with multiple buds resembling Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, or elliptical in shape. "Giant" blastoconidia contained a large oval clear vacuole occupying greater than 50% of the blastoconidium. Pseudohyphae emanating from these blastoconidia were also enlarged and contained a similar oval inclusion. Rarely observed were "giant" blastoconidia with either adherent or internalized blastoconidia uniformly arranged within the blastoconidium. "Giant" or enlarged blastoconidia production was constant, usually approaching 10 to 20% of the blastoconidial units comprising a single colony, irrespective of the number of subcultures. IsoVitalex supplementation of Remel (Lexana, KS, USA) chocolate agar but not a variety of other media also resulted in "giant" blastoconidia production. It is, therefore, theorized that a component(s) of IsoVitalex activates/blocks a gene present in select clones of C. albicans blastoconidia resulting in "giant" or enlarged blastoconidiogenesis.
白色念珠菌通常产生直径为2至8微米的芽生孢子。在已添加异维生素（IsoVitalex，美国马里兰州科基斯维尔BBL微生物系统公司生产）的市售巧克力琼脂上生长后，观察到白色念珠菌分离株（命名为BH）的明显增大的“巨型”（约30微米）芽生孢子。从形态学上看，“巨型”芽生孢子呈现出一系列形态，如带有线性褶皱的芽生孢子、具有单个宽基芽类似于皮炎芽生菌的芽生孢子、具有多个芽类似于巴西副球孢子菌的芽生孢子或椭圆形。“巨型”芽生孢子含有一个大的椭圆形透明液泡，占据芽生孢子的50%以上。从这些芽生孢子发出的假菌丝也增大了，并含有类似的椭圆形内含物。很少观察到“巨型”芽生孢子内部或附着有均匀排列的芽生孢子。无论传代培养次数如何，“巨型”或增大的芽生孢子产生是恒定的，通常接近构成单个菌落的芽生孢子单位的10%至20%。用Remel（美国堪萨斯州莱克萨纳）巧克力琼脂添加异维生素，但用其他多种培养基则不添加，也会导致“巨型”芽生孢子的产生。因此，理论上认为异维生素的一种成分激活/阻断了白色念珠菌芽生孢子特定克隆中存在的一个基因，从而导致“巨型”或增大的芽生孢子生成。
