title: Accumulation of phosphate and polyphosphate by  Cryptococcus humicola and  Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the absence of nitrogen.
abstract: The search for new phosphate-accumulating microorganisms is of interest in connection with the problem of excess phosphate in environment. The ability of some yeast species belonging to ascomycetes and basidiomycetes for phosphate (P (i) ) accumulation in nitrogen-deficient medium was studied. The ascomycetous Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Kuraishia capsulata and basidiomycetous Cryptococcus humicola, Cryptococcus curvatus, and Pseudozyma fusiformata were the best in P (i)  removal. The cells of Cryptococcus humicola and S. cerevisiae took up 40% P (i)  from the media containing P (i)  and glucose (5 and 30 mM, respectively), and up to 80% upon addition of 5 mM MgSO(4)             (.)  The cells accumulated P (i)  mostly in the form of polyphosphate (PolyP). In the presence of Mg(2+)  , the content of PolyP with longer average chain length increased in both yeasts; they both had numerous inclusions fluorescing in the yellow region of the spectrum, typical of DAPI-PolyP complexes. Among the yeast species tested, Cryptococcus humicola is a new promising model organisms to study phosphorus removal from the media and biomineralization in microbial cells.
authors.affiliation: Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Russia.
authors.forename: Natalia A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Breus
authors.forename: Lubov P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Ryazanova
authors.forename: Vladimir V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Dmitriev
authors.forename: Tatiana V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Kulakovskaya
authors.forename: Igor S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Kulaev
mesh_terms: D003454:Cryptococcus / Q000378:metabolism*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D008278:Magnesium Sulfate / Q000378:metabolism; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D011122:Polyphosphates / Q000378:metabolism*; D004718:Saccharomycetales / Q000378:metabolism*; D014587:Ustilaginales / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D011122:Polyphosphates; D008278:Magnesium Sulfate; D005947:Glucose; D009584:Nitrogen