Adaptation of Sporocytophaga myxococcoides to Sugars

Abstract

Five strains of S. myxococcoides were cultivated in a mineral nutrient medium with glucose. Glucose needs to be autoclaved in dist. water, in neutralized medium or sterilized by filtration. Growth occurred with 0.1% glucose but only after a lag of up to several weeks in 0.5 and 1% glucose. Inocula from a culture adapted to growth on glucose medium grew sooner at the concn. to which adapted than in higher or lower concns. Adaptation to mannose appears to parallel adaptation to glucose. The previously observed inhibition of cellulose decomposition by glucose appears to be due to the preferential utilization of the latter even when present in low concn. Neither fructose nor xylose replaced glucose or appreciably inhibited cellulose utilization.