Accumulation of acyclic polyols and trehalose as related to growth form and carbohydrate source in the dimorphic fungi Mucor rouxii and Candida albicans.

Yeast (Y) and hyphal (H) cells of Mucor rouxii and Candida albicans were cultivated in liquid media containing different carbon nutrient sources (glucose, fructose, ribose) and their free acyclic polyol and trehalose contents determined using capillary gas liquid chromatography (TMS- and OAc-derivatization). Irrespective of growth form and C-source, the fraction of the water-soluble neutral components of the cellular mass of the cultures - highly homogeneous with regard to the respective cell form produced - contained glycerol, ribitol and arabitol, in addition to trehalose. The polyols contributed 0.5-2% to the biomass of M. rouxii and 1.5-6% to that of C. albicans; the values for trehalose ranged from 0.2-11% in the former and 1-3.5% in the latter species. Mucor contained higher amounts of ribitol and arabitol in H cells and larger quantities of trehalose and glycerol in Y cells. In Candida, too, hyphae always exhibited higher ribitol contents, whereas arabitol attained higher levels in yeasts under almost any conditions - regardless of the type of medium (synthetic vs. complex), stage of culture (early vs. late log-phase) and strain used. Glycerol concentration was not correlated with the growth form; trehalose contents tended to be higher in Y cells. Taking into account the facts that C. albicans and certain Mucor species are agents of opportunistic infections and are invasive mainly in the filamentous form, and that the prospective hosts do not accumulate either of these carbohydrates, the possibility is considered of using trehalose- and polyol-metabolizing enzymes as targets for designing antifungal drugs.