title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Biology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald, German Democratic Republic.
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schauer
mesh_terms: D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000378:metabolism*; D019800:Phenol; D010636:Phenols / Q000378:metabolism*; D013045:Species Specificity; D015003:Yeasts / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010636:Phenols; D019800:Phenol