Full text loading...
Abstract
In the presence of excess iron diphtherial toxin was not produced by Corynebacterium diphtheriae cn2000. 2·8 % of the intracellular iron was present in the soluble fraction of washed bacteria; the remainder was bound on the respiratory particles, 4 % as haeme and the rest as non-haeme iron. Succinate but not NADH reduced the cytochromes and a small proportion of the non-haeme iron.
Toxin was synthesized at a high rate by bacteria containing 6·5 % of the iron present in excess-iron bacteria. Under such iron-deficient conditions the iron-containing components of the respiratory particles were present in decreased quantities. NADH oxidation, which proceeded via a soluble flavoprotein, was not affected by iron-deficiency, nor could reduction of non-haeme iron by NADH be demonstrated. The transition between the iron-deficient and the excess-iron states was studied.
- Accepted:
- Published Online: