Effect of exogenous fatty acids on biotin deprived death of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Abstract

The effect of exogenous fatty acids on cell growth and death of the biotin-requiring yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae BA-1 was examined with respect to the mechanism of synthetic pathway of fatty acid under biotin starvation. At a growth temperature of 30°C, exogenous unsaturated fatty acids, such as palmitoleic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids which promote the cell growth and suppress death effectively, were incorporated intactly into the cellular fatty acids, whereas the saturated fatty acid, palmitic acid, which supports growth but some what inhibits death, was once incorporated, and about 60% of incorporated palmitic acid was found to be desaturated. However, at an elevated temperature of 36°C, even palmitic acid showed similar effects to unsaturated fatty acids in cell growth and death; followed by an increased desaturation of palmitic acid. Thus the data indicate that palmitic acid, as well as unsaturated fatty acids directly compensate for the deficiency of endogenously synthesized fatty acids ...