Analysis of chitin at the hyphal tip of Candida albicans using calcofluor white.

Staining with calcofluor white (CFW), which is known to bind chitin-rich areas of the cell wall, revealed a difference in the fluorescence intensity at the hyphal tip between Candida albicans hyphal cells that were grown in modified Lee (M-Lee) and SPG media. The fluorescence intensity at the tip increased with the addition of salts and sugar to SPG. The chitin levels per dry cell weight in cells grown in modified Lee and SPG with 1.0 M NaCl were also higher than in SPG. These results suggest that chitin synthesis at the tip of C. albicans might be activated by the addition of salts and sugar to a medium.