Fig 9. CoQ production in various microorganisms following Bz addition.

For the pre-culture, S. cerevisiae BY4741, A. pullulans EXF-150 [43], S. japonicus NIG2021, S. japonicus isolated from a Kinzaki ancient tomb located in Matsue [38], and E. coli DH5α cells were cultivated in 10 mL of the indicated medium for 1 day. To explore the inhibitory effect of Bz, the indicated amount (μg/mL) of Bz was added to the media. For fungi, the initial cell density was ~1×10⁵ cells/mL and cells were cultivated for 2 days with rotation at 30°C; for E. coli, the initial cell density was OD₆₀₀ 0.1 and cells were cultivated for 12 h with rotation at 37°C. Gray bars show the CoQ₁₀ content per 50 mL of medium, and white bars show CoQ₁₀ normalized against cell number. Diamonds show cell number or optical density. Five micrograms of CoQ₆ was used as an internal standard for measuring CoQ₈, CoQ₁₀, or CoQ₁₀(H₂), which is CoQ₁₀ with a saturated isoprenoid unit in the side chain. Five micrograms of CoQ₁₀ was used as an internal standard for measuring CoQ₆. Data are represented as the mean ± SD of three measurements. Asterisks on bars denote statistically significant differences (**p<0.01, *p<0.05) relative to each medium without Bz (Student’s t-test).