Variation of isoenzyme and RAPD patterns in Candida albicans morphological mutants with altered colony ultrastructure.

Molecular typing methods were applied to characterize four stable morphological mutants [1] isolated from a UV-induced unstable mutant colony of Candida albicans. The wild-type strain (ATCC 64385), the intermediate unstable mutant and its four morphologically altered derivatives revealed the same electrophoretic karyotypes. Of the five isoenzymes tested (catalase, malate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase and 3-glucosidase), glutamate dehydrogenase displayed a different enzyme pattern (with an extra band of lower mobility) in the morphological mutants. In contrast, the random amplification DNA polymorphism patterns of the mutant strains differed in all cases from that of the parental strain. Different primers revealed various degrees of DNA polymorphism; one of them (OPC-8) proved to be useful for differentiation between all examined strains. Differences in genetic alterations between spontaneous and induced mutants, and the applicability of different molecular markers to analyse the consequences of induced mutagenesis in C. albicans are discussed.