Effect of oxygen supply during growth on the production of cytochromes, enzymes, and acid end products by Haemophilus parasuis

Haemophilus parasuis, grown under conditions of high aeration, was found to lack a tricarboxylic acid cycle but to possess phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and a reductive pathway leading to the production of succinate. Such organisms contained approximately equal quantities of b-, c-, and d-type cytochromes and excreted acetate. When the oxygen supply for growth was either reduced or eliminated, the specific activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, malate dehydrogenase, fumarase, fumarate reductase, and NADH:fumarate oxidoreductase were increased substantially, and the acid products were succinate, acetate, and formate. Organisms grown under the latter conditions also contained increased quantities of b- and c-type cytochromes, some of which were low-potential cytochromes. These low-potential cytochromes were reduced by NADH and oxidized by fumarate, and hence, appeared to be components of NADH:fumarate oxidoreductase. Our results indicate that in H. parasuis, growing aerobically in medium containing glucose, the sole function of the reductive pathway is to provide intermediates for biosynthetic processes, and oxygen is the preferred electron acceptor. As the supply of oxygen is reduced or eliminated, the reductive pathway becomes more involved in NAD+ recycling and fumarate becomes the acceptor. In effect, irrespective of the oxygen supply, the growth of H. parasuis is absolutely dependent upon the presence of an electron transport system. Key words: Haemophilus parasuis, cytochromes, enzymes, acids.