„Room temperature“ incubation for chlamydospore production by Candida albicans

Summary

Occasional failure ofCandida albicans to produce chlamydospores on potato-carrot chlamydospore agar could not be attributed to variations in the preparation of the medium including autoclaving and lyophilization. Chlamydospore production was, however, very sensitive to temperature. 104 strains ofC. albicans were grown for 3 days on potato-carrot agar at 16, 20, 25, 30, and 37° C. While at 25° C (the optimal temperature) 93 % of the strains sporulated, a variation of only 5° C either way caused a serious reduction in the performance and only 43 % of the strains sporulated. Sporulation at both extremes of temperature was negligible. A check of temperature variations in the laboratory over a 24 week period during winter months showed that for almost half that period, as expressed in total hours, the temperature remained below 21.1° C (70° F.). Thus “room temperature” incubation for chlamydospore production inC. albicans may not be sufficient in many cases. Production of chlamydospores on potato-carrot agar was also found to be much superior to that on corn meal agar.