The value of long-chain fatty acid composition in the Taxonomy of species representing the genus Kluyveromyces

Published ArticleThe long-chain fatty acids of 52 Kluyveromyces strains were extracted by saponification and analyzed as methyl esters by gas chromatography. The similarities between the strains were calculated on the basis of their fatty acid compositions. Two groups of strains were identified. The first group was characterized by the presence of palmitic, palmitoleic, oleic and linoleic acid while the second group consisted of palmitoleic and oleic acid as major fatty acids. The differences in fatty acid content did not discriminate between individual genetically demarcated taxa in Kluyveromyces but might serve to separate the non-hybridizing taxa (Group II) from the hybridizing taxa (Group I.