Tryptophan and Nicotinamide in the Nutrition of the Animal Microorganism, Tetrahymena

Kidder, George W.; Dewey, Virginia C.; Andrews, M.; Kidder, Ruth R.

doi:10.1093/jn/37.4.521

Cited by 23 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…gruberi at room temperature determined in the present work is not significantly different from that of Endarnoeba histoZytica at 3 7 ' as computed from data of Balamuth & Howard (1946) and of Phillips & Rees (1950). On the other hand, it is considerably higher than that of Tetrahymena geZeii at 25' (Kidder & Dewey, 1949) and of haemoflagellates a t 22.532' (Chang & Negherbon, 1947). The selectivity of Naegleria gruberi for species of bacteria as food is a subject of considerable interest.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 40%

Cultural, Cytological and Ecological Observations on the Amoeba Stage of Naegleria gruberi

Chang¹

1958

Journal of General Microbiology

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SUMMARY: A flagellate amoeba, isolated from Ohio River water and identified as Naegleria gruberi (Schardinger), has been maintained in permanent cultures on a buffered sucrose nitrate agar with its original bacterial associate, identified as Proteus mirabilis. On Czapek agar plates, the growth curve of the amoeba at 25-27' was found to consist of a lag phase of about 4 hr., a log growth phase of about 60 hr., and a growth-encystment phase of 2-3 weeks, At 37" the lag phase was shortened by half and the log growth phase by about a third. The generation time was 4& hr. at 25-27" and 24 hr. at 3'7". Continuous cultivation at 37", however, resulted in occurrence of abnormal forms. Very poor growth of amoeba on nutrient and tryptose agars was attributed to their high organic nitrogen content, poor' growth in liquid media to the difficulty of amoebae to engulf bacteria. Attempts to grow the amoeba on heat-killed bacteria were failures. Redox potential and pH determinations revealed that the mixed fluid cultures were aerobic and the amoebae perished at pH values more acid than 5.6. Replacement of Proteus mirabilis by other bacteria by Oehler's technique was unsuccessful because of swarming but was successful with a Flavobacterium sp., which produced a yellow pigment whose antibiotic effect prevented swarming. Permanent cultures of the amoeba with the new bacterial associate were maintained after the amoeba overcame the antibiotic effect of the pigment. Replacement of the Flavobacterium sp. in the mixed culture by new species of bacteria was easily accomplished, and permanent cultures were maintained with Aerobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, 8 species of Salmonella and 2 of Shigella. The amoebae encysted earlier on all these species than on Proteus mirabilis.Cytological observations include : (a) appearance of the chromatin material as short rods ; (b) no evidence of thread-like structures radiating from the karyosome or chromatin patches in resting nucleus, nor the centrioles in mitosis ; ( c ) karyosome origin of both the 'interzonal body' and the polar caps.The cultivation of free-living amoebae has generally been done in broths in the presence of a heterogeneous group of bacteria normally found in water or soil. Growth in such cultures is usually very poor, due to overgrowth of inedible and/or toxic substance-producing bacteria (Singh, 1952). The unsatisfactory results obtained by these workers are reflected by the remark of Dobell (1914) that luck played a great part in determining their success. Credit must be given to Singh (1941Singh ( , 1945Singh ( , 1946Singh ( , 1950 for developing the method of growing amoebae on non-nutrient agar supplemented with edible living bacteria. With this method, however, growth is limited by the supply of bacteria, and two types of cultures are needed for the maintenance of one.Although the cytology of Nuegleria gruberi (Schardinger) has been described in detail and many controversial claims have been clarified (

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 40%

Cultural, Cytological and Ecological Observations on the Amoeba Stage of Naegleria gruberi

Chang¹

1958

Journal of General Microbiology

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“…It should be pointed out that Crithidia fasciculata resembles the ciliates (Kidder, Dewey, Andrews & Kidder, 1949) in its failure to synthesize nicotinic acid from tryptophan, for both the amino acid and the vitamin are absolute requirements.…”

Section: G W Kidder and B N Duttamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Growth and Nutrition of Crithidia fasciculata

Kidder

Dutta

1958

Journal of General Microbiology

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153

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SUMMARY:The conditions for luxuriant axenic cultivation of the trypanosomid flagellate Crithidia fasciculata in chemically-defined media were determined. Improvements over the hitherto published media include higher concentrations of amino acids, folic acid (where this is the sole source of pteridine) and purines and the inclusion of threonine and Tween 80. Increased oxygenation was obtained by incubating liquid cultures in tubes in a sloped position. Under these conditions consistently excellent growth (up to 2 x lo8 organisms/ml.) was obtained and the useful incubation period could be decreased to 4 days. Using the improved medium, qualitative and quantitative studies on the nutritional requirements of the organism were carried out. Growth failed when any one of the following amino acids was omitted from the basal medium : histidine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, lysine, arginine, tyrosine, methionine, tryptophan. The omission of threonine caused drastically decreased growth rates and lower yields. It was found that phenylpyruvic acid could replace phenylalanine ; cysteine, cystathionine or homocysteine could replace methionine ; and citrulline, but not ornithine, could replace arginine for C. fascicuZata. In addition to the amino acid requirements a nutritional need for the following was demonstrated : a carbohydrate, haemin, a purine, thiamine, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, nicotinic acid or its amide, pyridoxal or pyridoxamine, biotin, folic acid and an unconjugated pteridine (biopterin). The natural purines, their nucleosides and nucleotides are nearly equivalent, on a molar basis, in growth promotion. Numerous substituted purines were also tested for their ability to supply the purine requirement. No exogenous source of pyrimidine for nucleic acid synthesis is necessary provided folic acid is present. Folic acid can be omitted from the growth medium provided thymine and methionine are present. The absolute requirement for biotin could not be demonstrated in the present medium without the use of avidin.

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“…For example, 8-azaguanine is noted for its antineoplastic value (Kidder & Dewey, 1949); 8-azaadenosine has also been studied for its antileukemic activity (Shealy & Clayton, 1973).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The crystal structure of 8-azaadenine hydrochloride

Purnell¹,

Hodgson²

1976

Acta Crystallogr Sect B

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The crystal and molecular structure of 8-azaadenine hydrochloride, C4HsN6CI, has been determined from three-dimensional counter X-ray data. The purine derivative crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2t, with two molecules in a cell of dimensions a=7.728 (4), b=7.177 (4), c=6"122 (4) A,, fl= 91.54 (3) °. The structure has been refined by least-squares techniques using 513 independent data to a conventional R (on F) of 0.038. The structure consists of disordered 8-azaadeninium cations which are hydrogen bonded to chloride anions. The disorder involves two orientations of the cation with C(4) and C(6) common to both, and one orientation is related to the other by an approximately 180 ° rotation around the C(4)-C(6) vector. Consequently, atoms C(2) and N(7) in one orientation occupy the sites of N(7) and C(2) respectively in the other orientation. An examination of the hydrogen bonding suggests that the cationic proton is on N(1). The apparent stability of 8-azaadenine to the acid conditions employed strongly suggests that the previously documented hydrolysis of this purine analogue on coordination to Cu 2+ is primarily due to the interaction with the metal ion. The corresponding hydrobromide salt is isomorphous with the hydrochloride, and disorders in an analogous manner.

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Tryptophan and Nicotinamide in the Nutrition of the Animal Microorganism, Tetrahymena

Cited by 23 publications

References 13 publications

Cultural, Cytological and Ecological Observations on the Amoeba Stage of Naegleria gruberi

Cultural, Cytological and Ecological Observations on the Amoeba Stage of Naegleria gruberi

The Growth and Nutrition of Crithidia fasciculata

The crystal structure of 8-azaadenine hydrochloride

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