• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.461-467
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• 1989

The regulation of the synthesis of alcohol-oxidase (E.C.1.1.3.13.) was investigated in the methanol-utilizing yeasts during growth on different carbon sources. For this experiment, Hansenula polymoypha CBS 4132, Hansenula polymoypha CBM 11 and Hansenula polymoypha Cooney were cultured in mineral salt medium by changing its carbon sources. The production of alcohol-oxidase was varied by the carbon sources. For exmaple, alcohol-oxidase was undetectable: in all strains submitted to the test in the medium with glucose, but its production was rapidly increased when the carbon source was changed from glucose to methanol after 30 hrs of incubation. Moreover, this enzyme was not synthesized during growth on the primary aliphatic alcohols alone (ethanol, propanol, butanol or pentanol) or on the mixed substrates (0.5% methanol + 0.5% primary aliphatic alcohols). When cells were grown on the various carbon sources (glucose, xylose, lactose, glycerol, galactose, saccharose, sorbose, lactic acid or acetic acid), the alcohol-oxidase was about one-tenth of the activity found in cells grown on methanol alone. These carbon sources together with methanol yielded far better synthesis of alcohol-oxidase than in case of carbon sources alone. Especially, the alcohol-oxidase activity of the cells grown on lactose or lactic acid together with methanol was far better or similar than that of cells grown on methanol alone. The synthetic activity of alcohol-oxidase of Hansenula polymoypha CBS 4132 was the strongest among the three strains tested in every respect.