AUTHOR=Atiencia-Carrera María Belén , Cabezas-Mera Fausto Sebastián , Vizuete Karla , Debut Alexis , Tejera Eduardo , Machado António 

TITLE=Evaluation of the biofilm life cycle between Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2022.953168

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2022.953168

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Candida tropicalis</italic> is an emergent pathogen with a high rate of mortality associated with its biofilm formation. Biofilm formation has important repercussions on the public health system. However, little is still known about its biofilm life cycle. The present study analyzed the biofilm life cycle of <italic>Candida albicans</italic> and <italic>C. tropicalis</italic> during various timepoints (24, 48, 72, and 96 h) through biomass assays, colony-forming unit (CFU) counting, and epifluorescence and scanning electron microscopies. Our results showed a significant difference between <italic>C. albicans</italic> and <italic>C. tropicalis</italic> biofilms in each biomass and viability assay. All-time samples in the biomass and viability assays confirmed statistical differences between the <italic>Candida</italic> species through pairwise Wilcoxon tests (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). <italic>C. albicans</italic> demonstrated a lower biomass growth but reached nearly the same level of <italic>C. tropicalis</italic> biomass at 96 h, while the CFU counting assays exhibited a superior number of viable cells within the <italic>C. tropicalis</italic> biofilm. Statistical differences were also found between <italic>C. albicans</italic> and <italic>C. tropicalis</italic> biofilms from 48- and 72-h microscopies, demonstrating <italic>C. tropicalis</italic> with a higher number of total cells within biofilms and <italic>C. albicans</italic> cells with a superior cell area and higher matrix production. Therefore, the present study proved the higher biofilm production of <italic>C. tropicalis</italic>.</p>