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Growth Response of the Yeasts Saccharomyces uvarum and Kloeckera brevis to the Free Biologically Active Forms of Vitamin B-6¹

The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Divisions of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Health Sciences, 615 North Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205

The ideal microorganism for the microbiological assay of total vitamin B-6 should respond equally to all forms of vitamin B-6. The yeasts Saccharomyces uvarum (ATCC 9080) and Kloeckera brevis (ATCC 9774) were compared in their ability to utilize pyridoxine, pyridoxal and pyridoxamine in the concentration range needed for the measurement of vitamin B-6 in biological materials. Our results showed that K. brevis responded equally to all three free forms of vitamin B-6 at a dosage range of 2–10 ng molar equivalent of pyridoxine. In contrast, S. uvarum, which is currently widely used for the vitamin B-6 assay, had a significantly different growth response to three forms of vitamin B-6 at the comparable dosage range. The results suggest that the yeast K. brevis is better suited for the microbiological assay of total vitamin B-6.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin B-6 • Saccharomyces uvarum • Kloeckera brevis

¹ This research was supported by the Science and Education Administration of the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Grant No. 5901-0410-8-0013-0 from the Competitive Research Grants Office.

² Received graduate student stipend from Cooperative Research Agreement No. 12-14-1001-1222 between the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Division of Radiation Health Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD, and the Nutrient Composition Laboratory of the Nutrition Institute U.S. Department of Agriculture.

³ Recipient of a Research Career Development Award (AI-00194) from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Manuscript received 10 September 1979.