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Isolation and characterization of a nitrile hydrolysing acidotolerant black yeast—Exophiala oligosperma R1

  • Applied Microbial and Cell Physiology
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Abstract

Different nitriles were used as sole sources of nitrogen in a series of enrichments under acidic conditions to isolate acidotolerant nitriles hydrolysing microorganisms. From an enrichment in Na–citrate–phosphate buffer at pH 4 with glucose as carbon source and phenylacetonitrile as sole source of nitrogen, a black yeast (strain R1) was obtained which was identified by subsequent 18S rRNA gene sequencing as Exophiala oligosperma. The growth conditions of the organism were optimized for the production of cell material and the induction of the nitrile converting activity. Resting cell experiments demonstrated that phenylacetonitrile was converted via phenylacetic acid and 2-hydroxyphenylacetic acid. The organism could grow at pH 4 with phenylacetonitrile as sole source of carbon, nitrogen, and energy. The nitriles hydrolysing activity was also detected in cell-free extracts and indications for a nitrilase activity were found. The cell-free extracts converted, in addition to phenylacetonitrile, also different substituted phenylacetonitriles. Whole cells of E. oligosperma R1 converted phenylacetonitrile with almost the same reaction rates in the pH range from pH 1.5–pH 9.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Katrin Wendt-Potthof and Dr. Mathias Koschorreck (UFZ, Leipzig/Halle, Germany) for the sample from “Restsee 111” and B. Jones (Bangor Wales) for a sample of acid mine drainage from Parys Mountain, North Wales. Furthermore, we are grateful to P. Hoffmann (Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen, DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany) and G.S. de Hoog (Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, Utrecht, The Netherlands) for their help in identification of E. oligospermum.

The work was supported in the framework of the CERC3 program.

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  1. Institut für Mikrobiologie, Universität Stuttgart, Allmandring 31, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany

    Sven Rustler & Andreas Stolz

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  1. Sven Rustler
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  2. Andreas Stolz
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Correspondence to Andreas Stolz.

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Rustler, S., Stolz, A. Isolation and characterization of a nitrile hydrolysing acidotolerant black yeast—Exophiala oligosperma R1. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 75, 899–908 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-007-0890-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-007-0890-3

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