Glucose metabolism and pyruvate excretion by Streptomyces alboniger
The formation of aerial mycelia and spores by Streptomyces alboniger has been observed to be inhibited by glucose supplied in the growth medium as the sole carbon source or supplied in combination with other utilizable carbon sources. Analysis of the metabolism of radiolabelled mannose and sucrose in the presence and absence of glucose demonstrated that glucose functions as the preferred carbon source, inhibiting the uptake and oxidation of the sugars within 15 min of its addition. The inhibition of aerial mycelium formation was shown to result from the excretion of an acidic metabolite, and could be overcome by the addition of a buffering system. The acid metabolite was identified as pyruvic acid by high-performance liquid chromatography and by paper chromatography. Acid was not produced in substantial quantities in dextrin broth or in glucose broth supplemented with 5 mM adenine. Analysis of the pathway of pyruvate overproduction demonstrated that growth on glucose resulted in increased glycolytic activity, relative to the activity of the tricarboxylic acid cycle on this substrate, while growth on dextrin or glucose supplemented with 5 mM adenine resulted in balanced glycolytic and tricarboxylic acid cycle activities.