title: Utilization of acetonitrile and other aliphatic nitriles by a Candida famata strain.
abstract: A variant of a yeast strain identified as Candida famata isolated from gold mine effluent was able to grow on acetonitrile, acrylonitrile, butyronitrile, isobutyronitrile, methacrylnitrile, propionitrile, succinonitrile, valeronitrile, acetamide, isobutyamide, and succinamide as sole nitrogen source, after acclimatization. The yeast grew on acetonitrile and acetamide at concentrations up to 4%. The utilisation of acetonitrile and acetamide by the C. famata strain probably involves hydrolysis in a two-step reaction mediated by both inducible and intracellular nitrile hydratase and amidase.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. linardiv@mono.icb.ufmg.br
authors.forename: V R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Linardi
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Rosa
mesh_terms: D000097:Acetonitriles / Q000378:metabolism*; D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism; D002175:Candida / Q000378:metabolism*; D006046:Gold; D008906:Mining; D009570:Nitriles / Q000378:metabolism*; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D000097:Acetonitriles; D009570:Nitriles; D006046:Gold; D000641:Ammonia; C032159:acetonitrile