This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Morais, P. B. Articles by Hagler, A. N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Morais, P. B. Articles by Hagler, A. N. Agricola Articles by Morais, P. B. Articles by Hagler, A. N.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 12 1995, 4251-4257, Vol 61, No. 12
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology

Yeast succession in the Amazon fruit Parahancornia amapa as resource partitioning among Drosophila spp

PB Morais, MB Martins, LB Klaczko, LC Mendonca-Hagler and AN Hagler
Instituto de Microbiologia, CCS, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The succession of yeasts colonizing the fallen ripe amapa fruit, from Parahancornia amapa, was examined. The occupation of the substrate depended on both the competitive interactions of yeast species, such as the production of killer toxins, and the selective dispersion by the drosophilid guild of the amapa fruit. The yeast community associated with this Amazon fruit differed from those isolated from other fruits in the same forest. The physiological profile of these yeasts was mostly restricted to the assimilation of a few simple carbon sources, mainly L-sorbose, D-glycerol, DL-lactate, cellobiose, and salicin. Common fruit-associated yeasts of the genera Kloeckera and Hanseniaspora, Candida guilliermondii, and Candida krusei colonized fruits during the first three days after the fruit fell. These yeasts were dispersed and served as food for the invader Drosophila malerkotliana. The resident flies of the Drosophila willistoni group fed selectively on patches of yeasts colonizing fruits 3 to 10 days after the fruit fell. The killer toxin-producing yeasts Pichia kluyveri var. kluyveri and Candida fructus were probably involved in the exclusion of some species during the intermediate stages of fruit deterioration. An increase in pH, inhibiting toxin activity and the depletion of simple sugars, may have promoted an increase in yeast diversity in the later stages of decomposition. The yeast succession provided a patchy environment for the drosophilids sharing this ephemeral substrate.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Dudley, R., Dickinson, M. (2004). The Comparative Biology of Ethanol Consumption: An Introduction to the Symposium. Integr. Comp. Biol. 44: 267-268 [Full Text]