Effects of Salts, Sugars, and Salt-Sugar Combinations on Growth and Sporulation of an Isolate of Eurotium rubrum from Pancake Syrup

Abstract

An osmoduric-saccharophilic fungus, identified as a strain of Eurotium rubrum Konig, Speikermann and Bremer and isolated from a bottle of syrup, showed optimum growth (i.e., increase in colony diameter) on Sabouraud's agar amended with 60% (w/v) sucrose (calculated aw = 0.964) and still grew near optimally at 110% (aw = 0.927). On glucose, fructose or arabinose, optimum growth occurred at 40% (w/v) (aw = 0.962, 0.962, and 0.954, respectively), but glucose supported better growth than did fructose or arabinose. In the presence of glycerol, optimum growth (i.e., increase in dry weight of mycelium) occurred at a 10% (v/v) concentration (aw = 0.972) and no growth occurred above 35% (aw = 0.878). In general, growth was better with 12-C > 6-C > 5-C > 3-C compounds. The fungus did not grow on concentrations of inorganic salts above 30%; growth on salts was best with (on a w/v basis) 10% KCl (aw = 0.957), 5% NaCl (aw = 0.972) or 10% CaCl2, (aw = 0.965). In the absence of either organic or inorganic solutes, there was essentially no growth. When sucrose and either KCl or NaCl were added together, growth was greater on a salt/sugar mixture than on the same concentration of salt alone, and, at equivalent calculated osmotic pressures and aw, sucrose alone supported better growth than did any salt/sugar mixture. These data indicate that the fungus has a requirement for, and a tolerance to, high solute concentrations. At equivalent osmotic pressures and aw, however, sugars supported greater growth than did inorganic salts.