Effect of the polyene antibiotic, roseofungin, on the liberation of the intracellular components from Candida guilliermondii cells and from rat erythrocytes]

Liberation of inorganic ions (potassium and phosphorus), nucleotides and protein from the cells of Candida guilliermondii and rat erythrocytes was studied. It was found that leakage of these components depended on the incubation time, antibiotic dose and amount of the cell material. The potassium ions proved to be most sensitive to the antibiotic: even at low concentrations of roseofungin (2-4 microgram/ml) the amount of the intracellular potassium changed. A decrease in the dry mass and volume concentration in the cells of Candida guilliermondii and lysis in the red blood cells were observed in addition to the leakage of the above intracellular components. The cells of Candida guiliermondii at the beginning of the semilogarithmic growth phase were especially sensitive to roseofungin. The coefficient of roseofungin distribution in the cells of Candida guiliermondü was evaluated. The maximum distribution coefficient was observed at roseofungin concentrations of 40 and 80 microgram/ml for the 4- and 18-hour cultures respectively. Therefore, the effect of roseofungin is characteristic of polyens.