Comparative study of the hydrophobicity of Candida parapsilosis 294 through macroscopic and microscopic analysis

Several studies have been developed on the hydrophobicity of different strains of Candida albicans, but little is known about the hydrophobic characteristics of Candida parapsilosis, despite the fact that this species is becoming an important pathogen. This work shows a study of the influence of the incubation temperature on the hydrophobicity of C. parapsilosis strain 294, through macroscopic techniques based on contact angles measured on deposited lawns of yeasts and on cell adhesion to solvents hexadecane and chloroform (microbial adhesion to solvents (MATS)test) and through a microscopic technique by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). All of the techniques employed have shown that the yeast surface becomes more hydrophobic when grown at 37 degreesC than at 22 degreesC. However, some discrepancies have been found between the behavior of yeasts against hexadecane or chloroform in MATS and the interfacial free energy predictions between the yeasts and each of those liquids calculated from contact angle measurements. On the other hand, AFM techniques have indicated a different temperature influence on the surface properties of the two kinds of patches that lateral force microscopy reveals. Also, all techniques have displayed a similar sensibility to detect the changes induced in the surface characteristics by the incubation temperature, but in this case, AFM shows a different behavior for the different surface patches, too.