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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2001, p. 4030-4035, Vol. 67, No. 9
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.9.4030-4035.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Toxic Effects of Ag(I) and Hg(II) on Candida albicans and C. maltosa: a Flow Cytometric Evaluation

Shangtong Zhang and Sidney A. Crow Jr.*

Environmental Research Center, Department of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia

Received 14 March 2001/Accepted 27 June 2001

The effects of Ag(I) and Hg(II) on membrane potential and integrity of cells of Candida albicans and C. maltosa were determined with a flow cytometric procedure that employed an anionic membrane potential-sensitive dye, bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine oxonol, and a membrane integrity indicator, propidium iodide. The membrane potentials of cells of both species were reduced rapidly within 15 min of exposure to Ag(I). No threshold dose for Hg(II) existed, and cells of both species lost membrane potential gradually in Hg(II) solutions. Cells of both species lost membrane integrity more rapidly in Ag(I) solutions than in Hg(II) solutions. In Ag(I) solutions, the decrease in the numbers of cells recoverable in culture occurred at a rate similar to the rate of cell depolarization and membrane permeabilization. In Hg(II) solutions, loss of cell recoverability preceded the loss of membrane potential and membrane integrity. C. albicans, in contrast to C. maltosa, showed no loss of membrane integrity after exposure to Hg(II) solutions for 1 h. Different rates of binding of Ag(I) and Hg(II) between the two species suggest that the two ions target different primary sites.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, P.O. Box 4010, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302-4010. Phone: (404) 651-3103. Fax: (404) 651-2509. E-mail: biosac{at}panther.gsu.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2001, p. 4030-4035, Vol. 67, No. 9
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.9.4030-4035.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.




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