Abstract
To determine whether Euglena gracilis z can accumulate vitamins, it was grown for 6 days at 27°C under light illumination in Koren-Hutner medium supplemented with an excess of each of the following water-soluble vitamins: B1, B2, B6, B12, C, biotin, folic acid, pantothenic acid, nicotinic acid, p-aminobenzoic acid. None of the added vitamins affected the growth of E. gracilis z; the cell number reached a maximum (20-23×106 cells/ml) after 5 days in each case, as in the control cells without vitamin supplementation. E. gracilis z took up and accumulated vitamins B1 and B12, and nicotinic acid, but did not accumulate other vitamins. The maximum intracellular contents of the vitamins under the present experimental conditions were: vitamin B1, 7.9±0.3 (mg%; dry basis); vitamin B2, 3.5±0.2; vitamin B6, 7.5±0.6; vitamin B12, 1.4±0.1; vitamin C, 27.2±0.4; folic acid, 1.7+0.5; pantothenic acid, 12.9±0.1, nicotinic acid, 41.0±0.2; biotin, 4.6±0.3.
