Effects of Certain Limiting Conditions on the Synthesis of B Vitamins by Yeast

In yeast crops which were grown in the presence of various inhibitors, there was considerable variation in content of the various B vitamins. A higher degree of parallelism in variation in content was found to exist between thiamine and niacin than between any other pair of vitamins; this has been interpreted as indicating that the predominant functions of these two vitamins are their established rôles in fermentation. Values for inositol indicate that it may be involved in fermentation processes, but this is not the case for other members of the B complex. Biotin appears to be unique since in no case did the biotin content of yeast grown in the presence of an inhibitor fall below that of the control yeast. There was some evidence of synthesis of biotin, or a material with biotin activity, in the presence of certain inhibitors, the most striking instance being with sulfaguanidine. An exogenous supply of biotin was essential for extensive proliferation of F. B. yeast, and yeast grown in a medium to which biotin was the only added vitamin contained the B vitamins in amounts very similar to those found in the control yeast, the most marked differences being in increased vitamin B(6) and p-aminobenzoic acid contents. In the absence of biotin, significant amounts of all of the B vitamins except biotin were synthesized, both in the presence and absence of certain other members of the B complex. The addition of thiamine, pyridoxine, inositol, and beta-alanine to the culture medium caused a reduction in the amounts of vitamin B(6) and p-aminobenzoic acid synthesized. F. B. yeast was able to grow in a xylose medium only when certain of the B vitamins were present, and even then growth was limited. Evidence was obtained for some synthesis of all of the vitamins investigated except biotin and vitamin B(6). The most significant differences in vitamin content between galac yeast and the parent F. B. strain were in folic acid and vitamin B(6), the former being considerably reduced in amount, the latter being increased.