ON THE METABOLISM OF AN AMINO ACID FERMENTING CLOSTRIDIUM

Abstract

The energy metabolism and nutritional requirements of a Clostridium isolated from Na formate enrichment cultures inoculated with black mud were investigated. The organism, designated as strain HF, catalyzes coupled oxidation-reduction reactions between ornithine and proline or ornithine and lysine. Arginine and citrulline are converted to ornithine and thus can replace the latter as a substrate for growth. Under certain cultural conditions, the addition of formate markedly stimulates growth upon the amino acid pairs. Fermentation balances for the decomposition of arginine plus proline in the presence and absence of added formate are shown.