Many fungi are known to synthesize riboflavin in small amounts (e.g. Peltier & Borchers, 1947, list 240 flavin-producing species), but there are three which synthesize it and excrete it into the culture medium in very large amounts. These are Candida spp. (Burkholder, 1943; Tanner, Vojnovich & van Lanen, 1949), Eremothecium a8hbyii (Guillermond, Fontaine & Raffi, 1935) and A8hbya go88ypii (Wickerham, Flickinger & Johnston, 1946). Although many patents have been filed covering the commercial production of riboflavin using these organisms (see a review by Pridham, 1952, for full details), the observations recorded have in general been only of limited value in furthering knowledge of the basic mechanisms concemed in this biosynthesis. The main reason for this is that the cheaply available materials found to stimulate riboflavin production are generally such biochemically complex products as molasses, fish meal, hide scraps, dried blood, etc. A considerable amount of work has been carried out in an attempt to culture E. a8hbyii on a fuly defined medium.
Purines are known to stimulate riboflavin synthesis in the fungus Eremothecium a8hbyii (Maclaren, 1952; Goodwin & Pendlington, 1954a, b) and work with isotopes indicates that this is due to incorporation of the purine or a metabolite into the riboflavin molecule and not to an indirect effect (Plaut,
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