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Updated: Aug 4, 2026
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Bio-energetics Investigation of Candida albicans Using Real-time Extracellular Flux Analysis
Published on: March 19, 2019
An alternate respiratory pathway in Candida albicans
Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek
|January 1, 1976
Summary
Candida albicans utilizes an alternate respiratory pathway, distinct from the conventional one, which involves cytochrome b. This pathway
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biochemistry
- Cellular Respiration
Background:
- Candida albicans respiration is complex and not fully understood.
- Conventional electron transport inhibitors affect fungal growth and respiration.
- Cytochrome variants exhibit differential responses to respiratory inhibitors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the respiratory pathways of Candida albicans.
- To determine the role of specific cytochromes and inhibitors in respiration.
- To identify potential alternate oxidative pathways in C. albicans.
Main Methods:
- Assessing aerobic and anaerobic growth rates and cell yields.
- Measuring oxygen uptake rates in response to various inhibitors (antimycin A, rotenone, EDTA, cyanide, SHAM).
- Utilizing wild-type and mutant strains of C. albicans, including cytochrome-deficient variants.
Main Results:
- Antimycin A, rotenone, and EDTA reduced growth and cell yield, similar to specific cytochrome variants.
- An alternate oxidative pathway, involving cytochrome b, was identified, distinct from the conventional pathway.
- SHAM (salicylhydroxamic acid) inhibited cyanide- and antimycin A-insensitive respiration, indicating its role in the alternate pathway.
Conclusions:
- Candida albicans possesses an alternate oxidative pathway that intersects with the conventional pathway at cytochrome b.
- This alternate pathway contributes significantly to the organism's respiration, especially under specific inhibitory conditions.
- Understanding these pathways is crucial for targeting C. albicans metabolism.
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