ACETIC ACID OXIDATION BY ESCHERICHIA COLI AND AEROBACTER AEROGENES
Abstract
CONTENT ALERTS Receive: RSS Feeds, eTOCs, free email alerts (when new articles cite this article), more» Information about commercial reprint orders: http://jb.asm.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml To subscribe to to another ASM Journal go to: http://journals.asm.org/site/subscriptions/ SAMUEL J. AJL Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri Received for publication January 10, 1950 Evidence against the occurrence of the Krebs oxidation cycle in bacterial respiration has been steadily accumulating. Escherichia coli and many other bacteria do not readily metabolize the three tricarboxylic acids. Aerobacter aerogenes will not readily attack citrate when measured manometrically unless the organism is grown in the presence of this acid as the sole source of carbon. Recently Lenti (1946) was able to show inhibition of succinic acid oxidation in E. coli by malonate, but the oxidation of pyruvate was not affected. Karlsson and Barker (1948) obtained evidence against the tricarboxylic acid cycle in Azotobacter agilis. There is, therefore, little support for the assumption that the cycle occurs in those bacteria whose intermediary metabolism has been studied in detail. On the other hand, many bacteria, including E. coli and A. aerogenes, oxidize succinate, fumarate, and malate, and reduce anaerobically oxalacetate to succinate, and this