BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC FACTORS GOVERNING THE ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF MICROFUNGI - A MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL APPROACH

The antifungal activity of 379 strains of microfungi from the collection of the University of Grenoble has been tested against Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, and Candida tropicalis. The results showed that the activity of a strain was not species specific. Strains of the same species but of different origins could exhibit different activities. To determine the factors governing this behavior, each microfungal strain has been described by means of parameters taking into account biochemical, physiological and ecological information. Correspondence Factor Analyses carried out from a subsection of a Burt matrix, which allowed us to structure the original data, have shown that it was possible to select a strain having a particular antifungal activity from its biotic and abiotic characteristics. The usefulness of our statistical approach and the methodological consequences of our findings on the significance of screening tests with microorganisms are discussed.