Growth, lipid accumulation, and fatty acid composition in obligate psychrophilic, facultative psychrophilic, and mesophilic yeasts

Obligate psychrophilic, facultative psychrophilic, and mesophilic yeasts were cultured in a carbon-rich medium at different temperatures to investigate whether growth parameters, lipid accumulation, and fatty acid (FA) composition were adaptive and/or acclimatory responses. Acclimation of facultative psychrophiles and mesophiles to a lower temperature decreased their specific growth rate, but did not affect their biomass yield (YX/S). Obligate and facultative psychrophiles exhibited the highest YX/S. Acclimation to lower temperature decreased the lipid yield (YL/X) in mesophilic yeasts, but did not affect YL/X in facultative psychrophilic ones. Similar YL/X were found in both groups of psychrophiles, suggesting that lipid accumulation is not a distinctive characteristic of adaptation to permanently cold environments. The unsaturation of FAs was one major adaptive feature of the yeasts colonizing permanently cold ecosystems. Remarkable amounts of α-linolenic acid were found in obligate psychrophiles at the expense of linoleic acid, whereas it was scarce or absent in all the other strains. Increased unsaturation of FAs was also a general acclimatory response of facultative psychrophiles to a lower temperature. These results improve the knowledge of the responses enabling psychrophilic yeasts to cope with the cold and may be of support for potential biotechnological exploitation of these strains.