An agar plate assay to detect cell wall active antifungal agents

摘要

A rapid economical plate bioassay to detect inhibitors of fungal cell wall was developed using two Sabouraud agar plates seeded with Candida albicans. One of them was supplemented with 0.8 M sorbitol, an osmoprotectant which prevented the lysis of C. albicans cells by cell wail active agents. In the absence of sorbitol, an antifungal agent gave a zone of inhibition and a reduced hazy zone in the sorbitol-supplemented plate indicated the antifungal agent to be active against the cell wall. When broth samples of 550 fungal isolates were screened, one of them giving a hazy zone was identified to be papulacandin. Thus, the newly developed plate bioassay is suited for high-throughput screening for novel fungal cell wall inhibitors. [References: 8]