Protective immunity to lethal Candida albicans challenge in vivo and activation of splenic macrophages with highly candidacidal activity in vitro were detected in mice infected with low-virulence agerminative yeast cells of the variant strain PCA-2, at a time when a strong delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction to C. albicans occurred in the footpads of PCA-2-treated mice. The DTH reaction was transferable with spleen cell populations from these animals, and enrichment of splenic lymphocytes in L3T4+ cells significantly increased the footpad swelling. The reactivity transferred by L3T4+ cells was a radiosensitive (2,500 rads in vitro) phenomenon that required collaboration with radioresistant, silica-sensitive syngeneic cells in the host and was inhibited by treatment of recipient mice with antibodies to the L3T4 antigen or murine gamma interferon. In vitro, the PCA-2-immune L3T4+ cells produced various lymphokine activities upon incubation with C. albicans, including gamma interferon and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Anti-L3T4 monoclonal antibody treatment of PCA-2-infected mice significantly impaired their footpad reaction and resistance to C. albicans, as shown by increased recovery of yeast cells from the kidneys of anti-L3T4-treated mice. These results suggested that the mechanisms of anti-Candida resistance induced by PCA-2 may involve specific induction of a DTH response mediated by inflammatory L3T4+ T cells and lymphokine-activated phagocytic effectors. However, the survival rate of the PCA-2-immune mice challenged with C. albicans was not significantly modified by administration of the anti-L3T4 antibody, thus allowing for the conclusion that compensatory mechanisms lead to considerable anti-Candida resistance when the activity of L3T4+ cells is deficient.