[Properties of a Candida albicans strain possessing an increased sensitivity to polyene antibiotics].

Characteristics of a mutant of the yeast-like fungus Candida albicans with increased sensitivity to amphotericin B, levorin and nystatin is presented. Increased sensitivity to the polyens in the isolate must be associated with changes in the cell wall and/or with decreased total viability of the strain. The following factors were in favour of this: presence of significant amounts of pseudomycelial cells with thinner cell walls as compared to the yeast cells in the population of the mutant strain; a higher rate of potassium liberation from the cells of the mutant strain in the presence of amphotericin B; a lower growth rate of the mutant strain on solid and liquid media; an increased death rate of the cells in the intact culture of the mutant strain as compared to the initial strain; absence of changes in the absorption spectrum of sterols isolated from the cells of the mutant strain as compared to the initial culture.