Increase in cyclic AMP content with enhanced phosphatidylinositol turnover in the cells of Candida tropicalis during mycelial growth caused by ethanol.

Ethanol causes mycelial growth of Candida tropicalis Pk 233, which is associated with enhanced metabolism of phosphatidylinositol at the mid-log phase of growth, and the effects of ethanol are prevented by concomitant addition of myo-inositol (FEBS Lett. 214, 127-129, 1987). Ethanol induced also a marked increase in cellular content of cAMP at the mid-log phase, and myo-inositol abolished this effect of ethanol. The elevated level of cAMP content caused by ethanol was gradually lowered through the late-log and stationary phases and reached to control level. Very similar effects of ethanol and myo-inositol were observed in adenylate cyclase activity, while the activity of cAMP phosphodiesterase was not affected by ethanol. The ethanol-induced change in cAMP content was therefore ascribed to that in adenylate cyclase activity. These results suggested that cAMP plays an important role in combination with phosphatidylinositol turnover in the development of mycelial form in this dimorphic yeast.