The end products of the metabolism of aromatic amino acids by clostridia

Abstract

The end products of the metabolism of phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan by growing cultures of clostridia have been identified. The species used were Clostridium aminovalericum; C. bifermentans; C. botulinum proteolytic type A; C. botulinum proteolytic type B; C. cochlearium; C. difficile; C. ghoni; C. histolyticum; C. lentoputrescens; C. limosum; C. lituseburense; C. malenomenatum; C. mangenoti; C. propionicum; C. putrefaciens; C. sordellii; C. sporogenes; C. sporosphaeroides; C. sticklandii; C. subterminale; C. tetani; C. tetanomorphum. The mixture of aromatic compounds formed, which depended upon the species, included phenyl acetic acid, phenyl propionic acid, phenyl lactic acid, phenol, p-cresol, p-hydroxy phenyl acetic acid, p-hydroxy phenyl propionic acid, indole, indole acetic acid and indole propionic acid.