Infrared spectroscopy as an ultrastructure bio-probe for fungal cellular characterization

Abstract

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to characterize the biochemical composition of fungal cells. It also was applied to detect the differences between the biochemical constituents of spores and hyphae of A. fumigates species. FT-IR microscopy was used to monitor the fungal growth. Chemical markers of the fungal cell ultrastructures such as cytoplasm and cell wall were identified. The technique is very sensitive to monitor the conformational changes in the fungal biochemical blocks during growth. Moreover, it can also detect differences between substructures of the fungi, i.e., spores and hyphae.