1887

Abstract

SUMMARY: The free amino acid pool contents of Gram-negative bacteria () were studied as functions of the growth environment and were compared with those from correspondingly grown cultures of Gram-positive bacteria ( var. ) and the yeast .

Although the pools of the Gram-positive bacteria and the yeast contained five to 20 times the concentration of free amino acids present in the pools of Gram-negative bacteria, all pools were similar in containing only a limited range of detectable amino acids. Glutamate invariably predominated and generally accounted for over 50% of the total amino acid content of the pool. The contents and composition of pools from micro-organisms maintained in steady states in chemostat cultures did not vary with time, but changed significantly with changes in either growth rate or the nature of the growth limitation. However, these pool variations were small compared with those resulting from addition of 2% (w/v) NaCl to a culture of growing bacteria. With cultures of Gram-negative bacteria, sudden changes in medium salinity effected marked and rapid changes in free glutamate content; with Gram-positive bacteria, similar changes occurred, but extremely slowly. Addition of 4% (w/v) NaCl to growing yeast cultures brought about no observed changes in pool size or composition. These results are discussed with reference to the involvement of free amino acids in synthesis and functioning of microorganisms.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-64-2-171
1970-12-01
2024-04-20
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/micro/64/2/mic-64-2-171.html?itemId=/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-64-2-171&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Britten R. J., McClure F. T. 1962; The amino acid pool in Escherichia coli.. Bacteriologica Reviews 26:292–304
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Brown C. M., Hough J. S. 1965; Elongation of yeast cells in continuous culture.. Nature, London 206:676–678
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Brown C. M., Rose A. H. 1969a; Effects of temperature on composition and cell volume of Candida utilis.. Journal of Bacteriology 97:261–272
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Brown C. M., Rose A. H. 1969b; Fatty acid composition of Candida utilis as affected by growth temperature and dissolved oxygen tension.. Journal of Bacteriology 99:371–378
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Dawson P. S. S. 1965; The intracellular amino acid pool of Candida utilis during growth in batch and continuous flow culture.. Biochimica et biophysica acta III:51–66
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Epstein W., Schultz S. G. 1965; Cation transport in Escherichia coli. V. Regulation of cation content.. Journal of General Physiology 49:221–234
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Herbert D. 1961; The chemical composition of micro-organisms as a function of their environment.. Symposia of the Society for General Microbiology 11:391–416
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Herbert D., Phipps P. J., Tempest D. W. 1965; The chemostat: design and instrumentation.. Laboratory Practice 14:1150–1161
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Holden J. T. 1962; The composition of microbial amino acid pools.. Amino Acid Pools73 Edited by Holden J. T. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publ. Co.;
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Mandelstam J. 1958; The free amino acids in growing and non-growing populations of Escherichia coli.. Biochemical Journal 69:103–110
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Meers J. L., Tempest D. W. 1969; The influence of environment on the synthesis of magnesium binding sites in Bacillus subtilis var. niger cell walls.. Journal of General Microbiology 55:x
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Meers J. L., Tempest D. W., Brown C. M. 1970; ‘Glutamine(amide): 2-oxoglutarate amino-transferase oxido-reductase (NADP)’, an enzyme involved in the synthesis of glutamate by some bacteria.. Journal of General Microbiology 64:187–194
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Neidhardt F. C. 1963; Effect of environment on the composition of bacterial cells.. Annual Review of Microbiology 17:61–86
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Taylor E. S. 1947; The assimilation of amino acids by bacteria. III. Concentration of free amino acids in the internal environment of various bacteria and yeasts.. Journal of General Microbiology 1:86–90
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Tempest D. W. 1969; Quantitative relationships between inorganic cations and anionic polymers in growing bacteria.. Symposia of the Society for General Microbiology 19:87–111
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Tempest D. W. 1970; The place of continuous culture in microbiological research.. Advances in Microbial Physiology 4:223–250
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Tempest D. W., Dicks J. W. 1967; Interrelationships between potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and ribonucleic acid in the growth of Aerobacter aerogenes in a chemostat.. Microbial Physiology and Continuous Culture140 London: H.M.S.O.;
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Tempest D. W., Dicks J. W., Ellwood D. C. 1968; Influence of growth condition on the concentration of potassium, and its possible relationship to ribonucleic acid, teichoic acid and teichuronic acid in Bacillus subtilis var. niger.. Biochemical Journal 106:237–243
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Tempest D. W., Hunter J. R., Sykes J. 1965; Magnesium-limited growth of Aerobacter aerogenes in a chemostat.. Journal of General Microbiology 39:355–366
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Tempest D. W., Meers J. L. 1968; The influence of NaCl concentration of the medium on the potassium content of Aerobacter aerogenes and on the interrelationships between potassium, magnesium and ribonucleic acid in the growing bacteria.. Journal of General Microbiology 54:319–325
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Tempest D. W., Meers J. L., Brown C. M. 1970; Influence of environment on the free amino acid ‘pool’ content of bacteria.. Journal of General Microbiology 60:ix
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-64-2-171
Loading
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-64-2-171
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error