Abstract
Baudoinia compniacensis,
the fungus responsible for highly conspicuous black growth on walls and
other surfaces in the vicinity of distillery warehouses and commercial
bakeries, has been little studied, in part because its isolation and
cultivation have long been considered difficult. In the present study,
basic details regarding the physiology of this organism are elucidated
for the first time. It is able to utilize ethanol as a carbon source,
but not other simple alcohols; glucose is also well utilized, as is the
ethanol breakdown product acetate. Inorganic and many organic nitrogen
sources support growth well, but urea does not. Though strongly
inhibited by salt concentrations over 2 m, B. compniacensis
can survive considerably higher concentrations. The fungus does not
ordinarily survive temperatures of 52 °C or higher when moisture is
present, but can be pre-adapted to survive this temperature by prior
heat or ethanol exposure. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel
electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis of cellular proteins reveals that
heat and ethanol pre-adaptation appear to induce formation of putative
heat shock proteins.
Keywords
- Capnodiales;
- Fungal physiology;
- Microcolonial fungi;
- Sooty moulds;
- Torula compniacensis
Copyright © 2007 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
