A Chemical-Biological Study of Escherichia coli and three of its Rough Variants

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Abstract
In a synthetic medium, acetic, lactic, and malic acids are more readily utilized as sources of energy by the normal form of E. coli; tartaric, citric, and salicylic acids by one or more of ''A rough variants. In broth containing 2% glucose, one of the variants, E. coli-R-32, produced an acid reaction without gas formation due to inability to decompose formates. With respect to the decomposition of glucose, E. coli-R-27, the most typical of the rough variants, has a less vigorous enzyme, or set of enzymes, than the parent cell. Injection of a lethal dose of E. coli-S into the ear vein of a rabbit caused a sudden rise in blood sugar and death in a few hrs. Under identical conditions, the valiants were almost without effect. It is believed that a soluble exo-toxin produced death by making the lung capillaries suddenly permeable to the cellular and non-cellular elements of the blood.