Degradation of hydrocarbons by members of the genus Candida. I. Hydrocarbon assimilation.

A representative number of species of the genus Candida were tested for their ability to utilize n-alkanes of 9 to 18 carbon atoms and even-numbered 1-alkenes of 10 to 18 carbon atoms. A high percentage of these organisms exhibited the ability to assimilate some member of the hydrocarbon series employed. These findings indicate that the ability to assimilate hydrocarbons is not limited to a few species of the genus and may be of some taxonomic significance.