Low virulence of a morphological Candida albicans mutant

The virulence of Candida albicans 92', a morphological mutant unable to fil ament, was assayed in an experimental model of systemic candidiasis in thre e strains of mice with different susceptibilities to the infection. The mor tality parameters studied pointed to the low virulence of this mutant strai n. Study of the fungal load of C. albicans 92' in kidneys and brain reveale d the presence of low numbers of CFUs and a high percentage of clearance, p articularly in the brain. Adhesion studies demonstrated a reduced capabilit y of the mutant to adhere to human epithelial cells. This strain can be con sidered a potential tool for cloning genes involved in virulence. (C) 1999 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.