The effect of ethanol and specific growth rate on the lipid content and composition of Saccharomyces cerevisiae grown anaerobically in a chemostat.

The effects of produced ethanol and specific growth rate on the lipid content and composition of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CBS 2806 were studied using anaerobic chemostat cultures. The cells adapted to increased concentrations of produced ethanol by increasing the proportion of ergosterol at the expense of lanosterol, by increasing the proportion of phosphatidylinositol at the expense of phosphatidylcholine, and by increasing the amount of C18:0 fatty acids in total phospholipids at the expense of C16:0 fatty acids. The produced ethanol had no effect on the phospholipid content nor on the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in the phospholipids. The specific growth rate had no effect on the phospholipid content, the sterol composition, the phospholipid composition, the fatty acid composition of total phospholipids, or on the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in the phospholipids of S. cerevisiae. It was not possible to separate the effects of produced ethanol and growth rate on the ergosterol content of the chemostat-grown S. cerevisiae cells.