Different levels of DNA methylation in yeast and mycelial forms of Candida albicans.

Isotope dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of genomic DNAs isolated from three Candida albicans isolates showed significant differences in the amounts of 5-methyldeoxycytidine (m5Cyt) in DNA from yeast-form and from mycelial-form cells; the moles percent m5Cyt were 0.11, 0.11, and 0.097 for yeast-form DNA and 0.045, 0.053, and 0.047 for mycelial-form DNA for the three isolates Sh8, 9938, and B311, respectively. The lower m5Cyt values for mycelial-form cells suggest that those cells may exhibit significantly greater gene activity than yeast-form cells.