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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Biomaterials. 2009 Oct 9;31(4):669–679. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2009.09.087

Figure 1. Chitosan inhibits C. neoformans biofilm formation.

Figure 1

(A) Percent metabolic activity of untreated and chitosan-treated C. neoformans strain B3501 biofilms measured by the XTT reduction assay. Yeast cells were co-incubated with various concentrations (0.02, 0.04, 0.08, 0.16, and 0.31mg/mL) of chitosan for 48 h; and their biofilm production was compared to that of fungal cells incubated in PBS. Bars are the averages of four XTT measurements, and brackets denote standard deviations. *, P<0.05 and **, P<0.001 in comparing the untreated and chitosan-treating groups. This experiment was done twice, with similar results each time. (B) Scanning electron microscopy image of untreated C. neoformans B3501 biofilms formed on glass coverslips revealed that cryptococcal cells are internally connected by copious amounts of polysaccharide. (C) SEM image of C. neoformans B3501 grown with 0.04 mg/mL showed yeast cells with no exo- or capsular polysaccharide. Scale bar: 5 μm.