EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE PHYSIOLOGY AND CYTOLOGY OF THE METHYLOTROPHIC YEAST CANDIDA-BOIDINII GROWING IN METHANOL-LIMITED CHEMOSTAT

All deviations from optimum cultivation temperature affect strongly th e physiology and morphology of cells of Candida boidinii strain 2 duri ng growth in methanol-limited chemostat. The optimum cultivation tempe rature was 28 - 30-degrees-C at which maximum cell concentration and m aximum cell yield (Y(S) 0.4 g/g) were achieved. At suboptimal growth t emperatures the cells were rich in cell protein, RNA, alcohol oxidase (AO) and in peroxisomes. Formation of cubic peroxisomes and a 20 % dec rease of budding cells in the population was observed. At supraoptimal growth temperatures (> 30-degrees-C) a sharp decrease in AO activity was accompanied by degradation of peroxisomes in the cells. The cultur e forms pseudomycelium: at 34-degrees-C the cells stop growing and the y are washed out of the bioreactor.