HEMIN INDUCES GERM TUBE FORMATION IN CANDIDA-ALBICANS

Hemin induced germination of Candida albicans blastoconidia when cells grown up to the early exponential phase were shifted from 28 to 37 de grees C (70 to 75% of cells exhibited germ tubes). N-Acetyl-D-glucosam ine (GlcNAc), another inducer of myceliation in this fungus, caused a similar effect. The combination of hemin and GlcNAc resulted in a high er percentage (95%) of blastoconidial germination. These results sugge st that in addition to temperature, hemin levels and carbon source may coordinately regulate the expression of subsets of genes involved in the yeast-to-mycelium transition in C. albicans.