Ultrastructure of the cell wall of Candida albicans blastospores: study of its constitutive layers by the use of a cytochemical technique revealing polysaccharides.

Cytochemical detection of polysaccharides, using the Thiéry method (PATAg) for the ultrastructural localization of periodic acid-engendered carbohydrate macromolecules, suggests eight constitutive layers in the cell wall of the blastospore of C. albicans. Each layer has been assigned a probable chemical composition according to its reactivity at the ultrastructural level. These results are discussed with respect to previous work in the field and to our present knowledge of fungal physiology.