Studies on azole-induced cell death inSaccharomyces cerevisiae

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain XL16-5B exhibited a fungicidal response to treatment with ketoconazole. Cell death became apparent during prolonged treatment over 72 h following an initial period over 24 h where viable cells were found and limited cell division occurred. Sterol analysis showed some differences between XL16-5B and the strain XY729-5a, which had a fungistatic response to ketoconazole. In particular, the level of ergosterol was higher in XL16-5B and remained high during treatment.