Hydrophobic properties of the cell surface of Candida albicans: a role in aggregation.

The ability of Candida albicans to aggregate and adhere to biological surfaces is a topic of major biological and medical importance. One factor which has been implicated in such properties is the hydrophobic nature of the cell surface. Two simple spectroscopic techniques are described which permit the rapid determination of this property. The first involves the use of arylnaphthalenesulfonate, the fluorescence emission maximum of which was shown to be a sensitive indicator of dielectric polarity. This was used to identify the hydrophobic characteristics of the cell surface of C. albicans. The second technique involves the use of 90 degrees Rayleigh-Debye light scattering as an indicator of the aggregation state of a fungal suspension. These techniques were then used to compare the surface properties of three different strains of C. albicans and the effects of culture conditions: the hydrophobicity of the strains varied, and galactose-based culture media promoted the greatest degree of cell surface hydrophobicity.