scholarly journals THE PRESENCE OF AN ENDOGENOUS RESPIRATION IN THE AUTOTROPHIC BACTERIA

1942 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. G. Vogler

It is shown that there exists in the autotrophic bacterium Thiobacillus thiooxidans a measurable oxygen uptake in the absence of the specific nutrient (sulfur). This respiration is shown to be due to the utilization of organic materials which must have been previously synthesized by the chemosynthetic process, providing evidence that autotrophic bacteria contain a dissimilatory process which involves the breakdown of organic materials and furnishes energy for the maintenance of the cell during periods in which the specific nutrient is absent. This is entirely in accord with the work of Bömeke (1939), who provided similar types of proof for Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter. One may conclude, therefore, that autotrophic bacteria possess an endogenous respiration which involves the utilization of previously synthesized organic materials.

1942 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. G. Vogler ◽  
G. A. LePage ◽  
W. W. Umbreit

The data of this paper indicate that: 1. The "energy of activation" (µ) of sulfur oxidation by the autotrophic bacterium, Thiobacillus thiooxidans, is similar to that of other respirations. 2. The pH of the menstruum does not influence the respiration on sulfur between the limits of pH 2 to 4.8 once contact between the bacterial cell and the sulfur particle has been established but it does influence the rate at which such contact occurs. 3. The pO2 has little effect upon the respiration of this organism. 4. Most organic materials have no detectable effect upon the respiration of Thiobacillus thiooxidans, but the organic acids of terminal respiration seem to stimulate the respiration in the absence of oxidizable sulfur and certain of them inhibit sulfur oxidation. 5. In so far as inhibitor studies on intact cells are trustworthy, sulfur oxidation goes through iron-containing systems similar to cytochrome. It is possible that the oxygen contained in the sulfuric acid formed during sulfur oxidation is derived from the oxygen of the water.


1972 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 1907-1913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei Amemiya

Many obligate autotrophic bacteria can be grown on glucose using a dialysis flow-through system. Methanomonas methanooxidans, an obligate methylotroph, exhibits many of the properties of an obligate autotrophic bacterium but we have been unable to grow it on glucose using dialysis. In the obligate autotrophic bacteria, the dialysis procedure seems to be removing a toxic product of glucose metabolism but this does not seem to be the case with the methylotroph. Enzymatic assays on a cell-free extract from methane-grown or methane plus glucose-grown cells showed only phosphoglucoisomerase activity, while glucokinase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity were not detected. Studies with resting cells showed that glucose was not oxidized, although the phosphate esters of glucose, fructose, ribose, and gluconate were oxidized. CO2 fixation occurred only in the presence of glucose-6-phosphate. The rate of oxygen consumed and CO2 fixed on glucose-6-phosphate were almost identical with that when methanol was used as the substrate. When the phosphate esters of glucose, fructose, and ribose were used as the sole energy source, only glucose-6-phosphate supported growth to any extent; in fact, the amount of growth was essentially the same as that obtained with methanol. The results from this study suggest that the inability of this organism to grow on glucose may be due to the absence of adequate glucokinase.


1966 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 1077-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. W. B. Ward

Conventional manometric procedures were used to measure oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide evolution by cells of a low-temperature basidiomycete. Total respiration was lowest and, relatively, endogenous respiration was highest in old cells. During starvation, endogenous respiration decreased but did so most rapidly in young cells. Maximum response to exogenous glucose was obtained from young cells after starvation. The respiratory quotient of endogenous respiration fell from 1.0 to approximately 0.7 during starvation, indicating a change in endogenous substrate. Conversely the respiratory quotient for exogenous respiration of added glucose increased with the starvation period. The level of oxidative assimilation of glucose was shown to be high (80-90%) and evidence was obtained that exogenous glucose did not suppress endogenous respiration.The optimum temperature for oxygen uptake was 25 °C, below which the Q10 was approximately 2. At 30 °C the rate, while initially highest, decreased during the 6-hour incubation period.The fungus utilized various compounds as carbon sources, but not sucrose in short-term experiments. Glucose, but not xylose was fermented, although the ratio of carbon dioxide to ethanol was not 1:1. Inhibition by fluoride, arsenite, iodoacetate, fluoroacetate, and malonate suggested that both glucose and xylose are respired at least in part by the Embden-Meyerof pathway and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Endogenous respiration was only slightly affected by these inhibitors.


1942 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. G. Vogler ◽  
W. W. Umbreit

In the autotrophic bacterium, Thiobacillus thiooxidans, the oxidation of sulfur is coupled to transfers of phosphate from the medium to the cells. CO2 fixation is coupled to transfers of inorganic phosphate from the cells to the medium and is dependent, in the absence of concomitant sulfur oxidation, upon the amount of phosphate previously taken up during sulfur oxidation. The energy reservoir, which is formed by sulfur oxidation in the absence of CO2 and which can be released for the fixation of CO2 under conditions which do not permit sulfur oxidation, is a phosphorylated compound and the data suggest that the energy is stored in the cell as phosphate bond energy. It is possible to oxidize sulfur at a constant rate for hours in the absence of CO2. The phosphate energy formed during this process is probably released by cell phosphotases. It is possible to inhibit these phosphotases by means of inorganic phosphate and thus to inhibit sulfur oxidation in the absence of CO2. In the presence of CO2, where alternative uses for the phosphate energy are available, the inhibition is relieved. Sulfur oxidation (energy input) is coupled, not to CO2 fixation, but to phosphate esterification. CO2 fixation (energy utilization) is coupled with phosphate release.


1959 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Miller ◽  
O. Hoffmann-Ostenhof ◽  
Eszter Scheiber ◽  
O. Gabriel

Cells from growth medium had a strong endogenous respiration under aerobic conditions with a respiratory quotient of approximately unity. In M/300 glucose, their oxygen uptake was somewhat greater than the endogenous, but the aerobic carbon dioxide output was approximately twice the oxygen uptake. When such cells were incubated in buffer no change in their respiration in glucose was noted in 2 days, but when incubated in 0.3% acetate the respiratory quotient declined to 1.3–1.5. This decline was evident within six hours of the time the cells were placed in acetate. Glucose (0.1%) also depressed the respiratory quotient. With two other sporulation substrates, sodium pyruvate (0.13%) and lactic acid (0.1%), the effect was not so pronounced, and a fifth, dihydroxyacetone (0.1%), seemed to have little or no effect. Spores developed more rapidly and became more abundant in the acetate than in any of the other compounds. The changes in the respiratory quotient did not show a clear correlation with either the amount or the rapidity of sporulation in the five sporulation substrates. When cells were incubated in acetate or in glucose for a day under anaerobic conditions their respiratory quotient did not decline. Some success was obtained in separating sporulated from non-sporulated cells by centrifuging. No difference was noted in the respiration of sporulated and non-sporulated cells. The respiratory quotient of cells from sporulated cultures returned to values characteristic of growing cells after 2 to 4 hours in growth medium.


1942 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. G. Vogler

In a study of chemosynthesis (the fixation of CO2 by autotrophic bacteria in the dark) in Thiobacillus thiooxidans, the data obtained support the following conclusions: 1. CO2 can be fixed by "resting cells" of Thiobacillus thiooxidans; the fixation is not "growth bound." 2. The physiological condition of the cell is of considerable importance in determining CO2 fixation. 3. CO2 fixation can occur in the absence of oxidizable sulfur in "young" cells. The extent of this fixation appears to be dependent upon the pCO2. 4. CO2 fixation can also occur under anaerobic conditions and the presence of sulfur does not influence such fixation. 5. However, in the CO2 fixation by cells in the absence of sulfur, only a limited amount of CO2 can be fixed. This amount is approximately 40 µl. CO2 per 100 micrograms bacterial nitrogen. After a culture has utilized this amount of CO2 it no longer has the ability to fix CO2 but releases it during its respiration. 6. Relatively short periods of sulfur oxidation can restore the ability of cells to fix CO2 under conditions where sulfur oxidation is prevented. 7. It is possible to oxidize sulfur in the absence of CO2 and to store the energy thus formed within the cell. It is then possible to use this energy at a later time for the fixation of CO2 in the entire absence of sulfur oxidation. 8. Cultures of Thiobacillus thiooxidans respiring on sulfur utilize CO2 in a reaction which proceeds to a zero concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. 9. CO2 may act as an oxidizing agent for sulfur. 10. Hydrogen is not utilized by the organism. 11. It is possible to selectively inhibit sulfur oxidation and CO2 fixation.


1962 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 861-867
Author(s):  
William A. Ayers

The oxidation of propionate, isobutyrate, valerate, isoleucine, and valine as well as the endogenous respiration of a B12-dencient marine bacterium was stimulated by the addition of vitamin B12 to washed cell suspensions. The B12 analog, 2-methyladenylcobamide cyanide, also stimulated endogenous respiration, but cobinamide was inactive. During autorespiration ammonia was continuously evolved by the cells indicating the presence of a nitrogenous endogenous substrate. When vitamin B12 was supplied to the cells, the ammonia evolved was decreased, while the rate of oxygen uptake was increased. The possible involvement of cobamide coenzymes is discussed in relation to these findings.


1969 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulina Keller

The effect of NaCl on Thiobacillus thioparus ATCC 8158 and on a strain of T. thioparus isolated from salt-rich Ein Bokek spring, near the Dead Sea, was investigated. Whereas the growth of T. thioparus ATCC 8158 was completely arrested by NaCl, KCl, or NaNO3 at a concentration of 0.3 M, the Ein Bokek strain tolerated 1.4 M of NaCl in the growth medium. Other salts (KCl, KNO3, CaCl2, MgCl2, and NaNO3) were significantly more toxic than NaCl. On the other hand, their effect on oxygen uptake by both strains was similar to that of NaCl.The thiosulfate-oxidizing system in cell-free extract was less affected by NaCl than that in the intact cells. Most of the effect of NaCl on this system could be attributed to inhibition of endogenous respiration. It was concluded that sodium chloride did not inhibit growth of T. thioparus through blocking its respiratory processes.


1948 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-134
Author(s):  
BEVERLEY A. HUMPHREY ◽  
GEORGE F. HUMPHREY

1. A method is described for reducing the numbers of bacteria in a suspension of Paramecium caudatum by an electrically directed migration through a sterile column of liquid. The resulting suspension was suitable for metabolic experiments. 2. Details are given of a Cartesian diver respirometer of ‘macro’ dimensions; this apparatus has a precision of about 10%. 3. The effect of pH on the endogenous respiration of a homogenate of P. caudatum showed an optimum in the region 7.0-7.3, with a wide tolerance on the acid side of the optimum but low tolerance on the alkaline side. 4. The endogenous oxygen consumption had a value of 1.9µl. per 104 animals per hr. and was inhibited 60% by 0.01 M-cyanide and 40% by 0.01 M-azide. Methylene blue did not increase the endogenous oxygen uptake. 5. Succinic acid doubled the oxygen consumption, this increase being inhibited by malonate. Methylene blue increased oxygen consumption in the presence, of succinate still further, and also abolished the inhibition of this extra respiration by cyanide and azide. 6. It is concluded that P. caudatum resembles other animal tissue in possessing an active succinic dehydrogenase.


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