THE UTILIZATION OF IMIDAZOLES BY YEASTS

Abstract

Eleven imidazoles were tested singly as nitrogen sources for 62 strains of yeast. L-Histidine and histamine were used by most strains, D-histidine by some, and histidinol only by a few. Four yeasts grew on compounds containing nitrogen only in the imidazole ring. Lipomyces starkeyii and Lipomyces lipoferus grew on imidazole, imidazole-4-methanol, imidazole-4-carboxylic acid, imidazoles-4-propionic acid, and urocanic acid. The two Lipomyces species, Trigonopsis variabilis and Torulopsis gropengiesseri, were able to grow on imidazole-4-acetic acid and imidazole-4-lactic acid.