Status of membrane lipids and amino acid transport in morphological mutants of Candida albicans.

The phospholipid composition of various morphological mutants of Candida albicans revealed a complete absence of phosphatidylinositol (PI) from plasma membranes of those cells which completely lacked mycelial growth. No other phospholipid was found to be specific to morphogenesis. The plasma membrane fractions isolated from mutants were more rigid than its wild type as was evident from their unsaturation index and fluorescence polarization measurements. The enhanced membrane rigidity of mutant cells was noted regardless whether the cells could grow only as mycelia or in their budding forms. Although some amino acids are considered to affect the morphological transition of C. albicans, this was not reflected in the transport activities of L-proline, L-alanine, L-lysine and L-glutamic acid.