Issue 20, 2022

Bending stiffness of Candida albicans hyphae as a proxy of cell wall properties

Abstract

The cell wall is a key component of fungi. It constitutes a highly regulated viscoelastic shell which counteracts internal cell turgor pressure. Its mechanical properties thus contribute to define cell morphology. Measurements of the elastic moduli of the fungal cell wall have been carried out in many species including Candida albicans, a major human opportunistic pathogen. They mainly relied on atomic force microscopy, and mostly considered the yeast form. We developed a parallelized pressure-actuated microfluidic device to measure the bending stiffness of hyphae. We found that the cell wall stiffness lies in the MPa range. We then used three different ways to disrupt cell wall physiology: inhibition of beta-glucan synthesis, a key component of the inner cell wall; application of a hyperosmotic shock triggering a sudden decrease of the hyphal diameter; deletion of two genes encoding GPI-modified cell wall proteins resulting in reduced cell wall thickness. The bending stiffness values were affected to different extents by these environmental stresses or genetic modifications. Overall, our results support the elastic nature of the cell wall and its ability to remodel at the scale of the entire hypha over minutes.

Graphical abstract: Bending stiffness of Candida albicans hyphae as a proxy of cell wall properties

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Mar 2022
Accepted
31 May 2022
First published
12 Sep 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Lab Chip, 2022,22, 3898-3909

Bending stiffness of Candida albicans hyphae as a proxy of cell wall properties

E. Couttenier, S. Bachellier-Bassi, C. d'Enfert and C. Villard, Lab Chip, 2022, 22, 3898 DOI: 10.1039/D2LC00219A

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