ENDOGENOUS RESPIRATION OF PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA

Abstract

Resting cells of P. aeruginosa were allowed to respire endogenously in air for 2 hr., during which chemical changes in the cells and in the suspending fluid were followed It was found that other than CO2, ammonia was the only product of endogenous respiration which could be detected No keto acids accumulated and it was concluded that the ammonia arose as the result of complete oxidation of amino acids. Calculations based on this assumption showed that ammonia production could account for all of the oxygen consumed In the presence of glucose, the ammonia was reincorporated into cellular material thus explaining, at least to some degree, the phenomenon of oxidative assimilation in this organism.