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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2001, p. 956-960, Vol. 67, No. 2
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.2.956-960.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Specificity and Mode of Action of the Antifungal Fatty Acid cis-9-Heptadecenoic Acid Produced by Pseudozyma flocculosa

Tyler J. Avis and Richard R. Bélanger*

Département de phytologie, Faculté des Sciences de l'Agriculture et de l'Alimentation, Université Laval, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4

Received 6 July 2000/Accepted 15 November 2000

cis-9-Heptadecenoic acid (CHDA), an antifungal fatty acid produced by the biocontrol agent Pseudozyma flocculosa, was studied for its effects on growth and/or spore germination in fungi. Inhibition of growth and/or germination varied considerably and revealed CHDA sensitivity groups within tested fungi. Analysis of lipid composition in these fungi demonstrated that sensitivity was related primarily to a low intrinsic sterol content and that a high level of unsaturation of phospholipid fatty acids was not as involved as hypothesized previously. Our data indicate that CHDA does not act directly with membrane sterols, nor is it utilized or otherwise modified in fungi. A structural mechanism of CHDA, consistent with the other related antifungal fatty acids produced by P. flocculosa, is proposed in light of its activity and specificity. The probable molecular events implicated in the sensitivity of fungi to CHDA are (i) partitioning of CHDA into fungal membranes; (ii) a variable elevation in fluidity dependent on the buffering capability (sterol content) in fungi; and (iii) higher membrane disorder causing conformational changes in membrane proteins, increased membrane permeability and, eventually, cytoplasmic disintegration.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Département de phytologie, Faculté des Sciences de l'Agriculture et de l'Alimentation, Université Laval, Cité Universitaire, Québec (Qc), Canada G1K 7P4. Phone: (418) 656-2758. Fax: (418) 656-7856. E-mail: richard.belanger{at}plg.ulaval.ca.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2001, p. 956-960, Vol. 67, No. 2
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.2.956-960.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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