CHARACTERIZATION OF ACETOBACTER XYLINUM BY UBIQUINONE SYSTEM

Abstract

All the A. xylinum strains examined, including the cellulose-forming and celluloseless ones, have the ubiquinone system comprising Q-10 and were thus differentiated from any other members of the genus Acetobacter, especially of the mesoxydans group. The significance of difference in the quinone system is discussed from the taxonomic point of view. These Acetobacter strains having such a Q-10 system should probably be re-accepted as a separate species, A. xylinum distinct from A. aceti, whether they produce the cellulosic leathery pellicles or not.