Effect of the Antibiotics Radicicolin and Griseofulvin on the Fine Structure of Fungi

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Abstract
The cell walls of fungal hyphae laid down in the presence of radicicolin and griseofulvin are thicker and stronger than in normal hyphae. In Aspergillus niger radicicolin and griseofulvin induced the formation of swollen and misshapen cells that differed from normal cells only in size and thickness of the cell wall. Electron micrographs revealed no abnormalities in orientation or thickness of the structural microfibrils in the walls of the swollen and misshapen cells. Hyphal septa were similar in structural detail to the rest of the cell wall and consequently may become thickened and malformed in the presence of these antibiotics. The results support the suggestion that radicicolin and griseofulvin act, in the region of the cell wall bounded on the inner surface by the plasma membrane, to disrupt the normal process of hyphal extension at the cell tip. The deposition of additional cell wall material on swollen hyphae is seen as a response on the part of the fungus to maintain the integrity of these wider malformed cells.

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