Skip to content
1887

Microbiology Society logo Microbiology

Volume 97, Issue 1

Fermentation of Purines and their Effect on the Adenylate Energy Charge and Viability of Starved Free

Abstract

SUMMARY: The principal products of endogenous metabolism of the obligate anaerobe were carbon dioxide, ammonia, acetate and butyrate, which are also produced by fermentation of nucleosides, purines and ribose, thus supporting our previous finding that RNA is the only cellular component to undergo substantial degradation under starvation conditions. Minor products were hydrogen, formate and propionate. The stoicheiometries of fermentation of xanthine, adenine, adenosine and ribose were determined. The ability to ferment exogenous nucleosides, purines and ribose declined rapidly on starvation, as did the ability to generate ATP from xanthine, and was paralleled by the loss of viability. However, addition of pulses of xanthine or adenine to organisms in the early stages of starvation sustained their adenylate energy charge and prolonged their viability. Evidence suggests that dies when its principal energy source (RNA) is depleted, and a possible explanation is that the transport function of the cytoplasmic membrane decays rapidly under these conditions so that, on transfer to a recovery medium, uptake of nutrients is inadequate to support growth.

  • Received:
  • Published Online:
© Society for General Microbiology, 1976
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-97-1-63
1976-11-01
2025-04-19
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/micro/97/1/mic-97-1-63.html?itemId=/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-97-1-63&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Bentley C. M., Dawes E. A. 1974; The energy-yielding reactions of Peptococcus prévotii, their behaviour on starvation and the role and regulation of threonine dehydratase. Archives of Microbiology 100:363–387
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Bethge P. O., Lindström K. 1974; Determination of organic acids of low relative molecular mass (C1 to C4) in dilute aqueous solution. Analyst 99:137–142
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Chaney A. L., Marbach E. P. 1962; Modified reagents for determination of urea and ammonia. Clinical Chemistry 8:130–132
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Conway E. J. 1962 Microdiffusion Analysis and Volumetric Error. London: Crosby Lockwood;
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Lowry O. H., Rosebrough N. J., Farr A. L., Randall R. J. 1951; Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. Journal of Biological Chemistry 193:265–275
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Montague M. D., Dawes E. A. 1974; The survival ofPeptococcus prévotiiin relation to theadenylate energy charge. Journal of General Microbiology 80:291–299
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Postgate J. R., Crumpton J. E., Hunter J. R. 1961; The measurement of bacterial viabilities by slide culture. Journal of General Microbiology 24:15–24
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Rabinowitz J. C. 1956; Purine fermentation byClostridium cylindrosporum. III. 4-Amino-5-imidazole- carboxylic acid and 4-aminoimidazole. Journal of Biological Chemistry 218:175–187
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Rabinowitz J. C., Barker H. A. 1956; Purine fermentation byClostridium cylindrosporum. II. Purine transformations. Journal of Biological Chemistry 218:161–174
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Senior P. J., Dawes E. A. 1973; The regulation of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate metabolism inAzotobacter beijerinckii. Biochemical Journal 134:225–238
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Stickland L. H. 1951; The determination of small quantities of bacteria by means of the biuret reaction. Journal of General Microbiology 5:698–703
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Thomas T. D., Batt R. D. 1969; Metabolism of exogenous arginine and glucose by starvedStreptococcus lactis in relation to survival. Journal of General Microbiology 58:371–380
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Whiteley H. R. 1952; The fermentation of purines byMicrococcus aerogenes. Journal of Bacteriology 63:163–175
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-97-1-63
Loading
Fermentation of Purines and their Effect on the Adenylate Energy Charge and Viability of Starved Peptococcus prévotii
Microbiology 97, 63 (1976); https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-97-1-63
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-97-1-63
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-97-1-63
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Most cited Most Cited RSS feed

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