Growth and metabolism of Penicillium lilacinum Thom. with reference to the effects of riboflavin and nicotinic acid.

Abstract

Growth and metabolism of Penicillium lilacinum were followed over a period of incubation of 18 days on a high sugar-salts medium favourable for fat formation with or without the addition of riboflavin or nicotinic acid to the growth medium. The high sugar content in the culture media helped rapid uptake and vigorous growth. Nicotinic acid and to a less extent riboflavin, enhanced sugar and nitrogen absorption and the rate of building up of cellular material in consequence. Nitrogenous compounds have been released from the mycelial cells into the external media before growth started to decline; the release being earlier and more rapid in the presence of nicotinic acid. It is suggested that the release of nitrogenous compounds in this case is not purely due to autolysis, and that nicotinic acid affected this process by increasing cell permeability. Both riboflavin and nicotinic acid accelerated the accumulation of carbohydrates and fat in the mycelium. Fat formation became active only when the nitrogen content of the culture media dropped to a very low value and the building of nitrogenous compounds almost stopped. The inverse relationship between synthesis of fat and of complicated nitrogenous compounds was quite clear under the present experimental conditions and was not affected by either riboflavin or nicotinic acid.