Scanning electron microscopy of Candida albicans after in vitro treatment with miconazole

A study was made on the in vitro action of the antimycotic miconazole on Candida albicans yeast cells with scanning electron microscopy, and the effects were compared with those seen on the yeast cells by means of transmission electron microscopy. It was found that cells exposed to fungistatic and minimal fungicidal doses of miconazole (10(-7) M and 10(-6) M) presented rough surfaces and had multiple, desoriented buds and bud scars. Whereas in control cultures the cells were well separated, the treated ones formed small clusters of interconnected cells. After exposure to a fungicidal concentration (10(-4) M) of the drug, most of the remaining cells showed smooth surfaces and were covered with numerous vesicular structures probably representing cytoplasmic remnants derived from broken cells. This has been substantiated by the presence of abundant fragments of cell walls and confirmed by examination of similarly treated cultures in the transmission electron microscope. Moreover, the cells with an apparently intact surface when examined with scanning electron microscopy were shown with transmission electron microscopical examination to be completely necrotic inside.