Carbohydrate Metabolism of Organisms of the Genus Mycobacterium

Merrill, Malcolm H.

doi:10.1128/jb.20.4.235-286.1930

Cited by 21 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Of the pentoses studied (Table 2), only arabinose has been reported positive (Merrill, 1930). This result was obtained with a rapid-growing nonpathogenic acid-fast organism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Several workers used just one or two strains for their studies (Proskauer and Beck, 1894;Merrill, 1931;Youmans and Youmans, 1953). Often, relatively few carbohydrates were employed (Hammerschlag, 1891;Kondo, 1925;Merrill, 1930;Model, 1933;Henderson, 1942). All of these investigations were carried out by the inoculation of culture media in the conventional manner (small inocula), followed by incubation of suitable duration for growth to occur; 2 weeks to 6 months were required to obtain results.…”

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confidence: 99%

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UTILIZATION OF CARBOHYDRATES AND POLYHYDRIC ALCOHOLS BY MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS

Sweeney

Jann

1962

J Bacteriol

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SWEENEY, EDWARD E. (University of California, Los Angeles) AND GREGORY J. JANN. Utilization of carbohydrates and polyhydric alcohols by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J. Bacteriol. 84:459-465. 1962.-A new procedure, using a massive inoculum and nongrowth basal medium, was employed for testing carbohydrate and polyhydric alcohol utilization by human tubercle bacilli. A positive reaction was represented by acidification of the test medium rather than by growth, which was the criterion for carbohydrate utilization in studies by earlier workers. The new procedure was both more sensitive and more rapid than growth techniques; results were obtained within days, compared to weeks or months required for growth testing. The massiveinoculum technique may be applied to compounds other than carbohydrates and polyhydric alcohols, and is a sensitive means of detecting changes wrought by various chemical and physical agents upon the metabolism of tubercle bacilli. Three H37Rv strains and six strains of human tubercle bacilli freshly isolated from patients were tested with 21 carbohydrates and polyhydric alcohols. All nine strains gave strong positive reactions for glucose and glycerol, and usually weak positive reactions for ribose and sorbose. Five of the nine strains were trehalose positive, and six (all fresh patient isolates) of the nine were mannose positive. The human tubercle bacillus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Breed, Murray, and Smith, 1957), has been investigated for its ability to utilize carbohydrates since the initial studies of Hammerschlag (1891). There is considerable disagreement among various workers. Youmans and Youmans (1953) reviewed the earlier litera

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“…Of the pentoses studied (Table 2), only arabinose has been reported positive (Merrill, 1930). This result was obtained with a rapid-growing nonpathogenic acid-fast organism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

UTILIZATION OF CARBOHYDRATES AND POLYHYDRIC ALCOHOLS BY MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS

Sweeney

Jann

1962

J Bacteriol

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“…In addition, many aerobic bacteria are ammonifiers, so that a peptone-sugar medium may become markedly alkaline in spite of the fact that extensive carbohydrate utilization has occurred. Although the oxidation of sugars without concomitant acid production was clearly shown by Merrill (1930) in studies on the carbohydrate metabolism of the genus Mycobacterium, it does not seem to have been generally recognized. For example, ZoBell and Rittenberg (1938) studying the carbohydrate metabolism of aerobic chitin-decomposing bacteria by the conventional standard methods, report organisms decomposing starch, chitin, sucrose and lactose, but not glucose, or even attacking starch and chitin but none of the other sugars tested.…”

Section: General Characterization Of the Isolated Strainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studies on Marine Agar-Digesting Bacteria

Stanier

1941

J Bacteriol

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Agar had been in general bacteriological use for almost twenty years before organisms capable of attacking it were first reported. In 1902 Gran, then working in Beijerinck's laboratory, discovered an agar-digesting bacterium quite fortuitously, while engaged in a general study of marine bacteria. Later, by the use of enrichment cultures, he was able to isolate the same organism repeatedly from seawater off the Dutch and Norwegian coasts. Gran showed that the enzyme responsible for agar decomposition was extracellular, and also discovered the iodine reaction, which is the surest test for agar decomposition. In concluding his work on the subject, he wrote: Es ware zu wiinschen, dass solche Untersuchungen auch in anderen

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“…Thus in a medium adequate in other respects an acid hydrolyzed casein is a suitable source of nitrogen for rapid growth. Although the ability of acidfast bacteria to utilize simple compounds as the sole source of nitrogen is well known (Long, 1921(Long, -1922Merrill, 1930Merrill, , 1931, the nitrogen requirements for rapid growth of these organisms have not been clearly defined. Since a medium permitting rapid growth of M. phic had been devised which contained the nitrogen source in one undefined component, its suitable replacement with chemically defined nitrogen compounds was possible.…”

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confidence: 99%