FIG. 3.

Calcineurin is not required for germ tube formation or adherence to epithelial cells. (A) Wild-type (WT) (SC5314), calcineurin mutant (cnb1/cnb1) (JRB64), and calcineurin reconstituted (cnb1/cnb1+ CNB1) (MCC85) strains were grown in rich liquid medium with 10% FBS at 37°C for 2.5 h, and germ tubes produced by all three strains were visualized by Nomarski optics and photographed at a magnification of ×200. At this stage, 89.6% of wild-type, 82.5% of calcineurin mutant, and 87.0% of reconstituted cells had procuced germ tubes (only the difference between the data for wild-type and calcineurin mutant cells was statistically significant [P = 0.03]). (B) A total of 5 × 10⁶ wild-type (SC5314) or calcineurin mutant (JRB64) cells were incubated with 5 × 10⁴ human BECs. Cells were Gram stained, visualized with a Zeiss Axioscop 2 plus microscope, and photographed at a magnification of ×400. Arrows indicate representative C. albicans cells attached to epithelial cells. Bars, 25 μm.