Inactivation of Candida albicans Germ Tubes

Wild-type C. albicans SC5314 was maintained as previously described (Leonhardt et al., 2015 (link)). For experiments, colonies were transferred to M199 medium (PAA), pH 4 and cultured at 30°C to stationary phase. Germ tubes were induced by culturing in M199 medium, pH 8 for 1 h at 37°C. Germ tubes were inactivated by washing them in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and followed by incubation in PBS containing 0.1% thimerosal (Sigma-Aldrich) for 1 h at 37°C with shaking. Afterwards, germ tubes were washed five times and then re-suspended in RPMI-1640. Killing was confirmed by plate counts on YPD (2% D-glucose, 1% peptone, 5% yeast extract, Roth) agar plates.