Utilization of phenol by hydrocarbon assimilating yeasts

Abstract

77 Ascomycetous, basidiomycetous as well as imperfect yeast strains of 46 different species and 20 genera were tested for growth with the substrates n-octane, n-hexadecane, and phenol. Of 59 yeast strains with ascomycetous cell wall structure 33 grew on hydrocarbons and 32 on phenol. No yeast strain out of 26 which are unable to use n-alkanes as a source of carbon and energy grew on phenol. In comparison with the latter 32 out of 33 n-hexadecane assimilating yeasts were also capable of using phenol. All n-octane utilizing yeasts of this group also assimilate phenol as a carbon source for growth. The correlation of the hydrocarbon assimilation with the phenol assimilation seems to be not so strong in the basidiomycetous yeasts. 7 out of 18 strains from this group grew on n-hexadecane and 13 on phenol. Furthermore, it could be shown that the use of hydrocarbons and phenol (as well as methanol) is strongly correlated with the coenzyme Q structure of the respective yeast strain. The results are discussed with respect to the particular chemical properties of the substrates used and the fact that coenzyme Q structure is considered to be an important marker of evolutionary relationships among yeasts.