A New Growth-promoting Factor for Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Intermediary metabolism of mycobacteria.

“…Yamane (425) has isolated from egg-yolk a crystalline growth-enhancing factor which is heat-stable and is required in concentrations of 0.01% and above. Ramakrishnan, Indira,and Sirsi (298,299) reported the isolation of a heat-stable polysaccharide growth-promoting factor for M. tuberculosis from coconut water; this substance has antigenic similarity to a component in the bacillus (249). Better known are the iron-chelating growth factors, mycobactins from mycobacteria themselves-a topic recently covered in a extensive review by Snow (336).…”

“…Lyon and Hall (242) have recently reported that L-alanine can substitute for Lasparagine as nitrogen source for growing M. tuberculosis, though the growth rate with the former is lower. The purification and properties of dehydrogenase from M. tuberculosis H37Ra and H37Rv have been described (112,299). The enzyme is specific for L-alanine and requires NAD for activity.…”

Battle with a bug: The legacy of Prof. T Ramakrishnan

“…The quiet dedication and passion in TR served as a bouyant force which kept everybody's spirits up. Within a year of joining the institute, he made an astonishing discovery which was published in Nature [1]. His group showed, by simple experiments, that tender coconut water contains a growth-promoting factor for Mycobacterium tuberculosis which could shorten the incubation time required for full growth of the organism by almost half, without affecting its virulence.…”