Interactions between Zygosaccharomyces mellis and Wallemia sebi in diluted molasses

The yeast Zygosaccharomyces mellis and the mould Wallemia sebi were isolated from the same sample of crystalline sugar. Interactions between these fungi were investigated using a diluted molasses medium (water activity 0.89, pH 6.0) as a model system for the syrup film covering the surface of moist crystalline sugar. Single and mixed cultures of Z. mellis and W. sebi were incubated at 25°C for 400 h. Our results show that the growth of Z. mellis in single culture was limited by available glucose and fructose, and that W. sebi was able to invert sucrose to glucose and fructose in both single and mixed culture. Furthermore, the presence of W. sebi in the mixed culture increased the maximum specific growth rate of Z. mellis from 0.074 to 0.19 h−1 and the growth yield of Z. mellis from 7.3×106 to 5.4×107 cfu/ml. These results indicate that the ability of W. sebi to invert sucrose may stimulate the growth of Z. mellis. Finally, the presence of Z. mellis inhibited the ability of W. sebi to invert sucrose: W. sebi was able to invert 1.0 g sucrose/l per h in single culture but only 0.6 g sucrose/l per h in mixed culture. As predicted by Raoults law, this corresponded to a reduction in the water activity of the growth medium from 0.890 to 0.850 in single culture, and to 0.865 in mixed culture.