Alternative respiration pathways in Schwanniomyces castellii. II. Characteristics of oxidation pathways.

By using cytochrome-deficient mutants of Schwanniomyces castellii found previously, we measured the inhibition constants of azide and SHAM-alone or combined-for the different oxidative pathways, in order to determine the more suitable concentrations of inhibitors. This allowed us to measure the real capacity of each pathway. We calculated their affinity for oxygen, and determined that O2 was preferencially reduced by the cytochromic pathway, then by the SHAM-sensitive pathway, and finally by the SHAM+AA-insensitive pathway.