Some Aspects of Nutritional Variation of the Gonococcus

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Abstract
A type of gonococcus is described which does not grow on autoclaved culture media except in the presence of certain other bacteria or with the addition of fresh extracts of liver, yeast, or blood or similar substances. These strains occur frequently, and failure to detect them constitutes a serious defect in cultural diagnosis. These deficient strains grow luxuriantly if 1/200 filtered or toluene-preserved liver extract is added to the sterile, autoclaved medium. Strains of gonococcus requiring the thermolabile factor present in the extracts produce spontaneous mutations capable of its synthesis. The factor involved is simple, dialyzable, alcohol-soluble, and is destroyed by autoclaving. It is not replaceable by a number of known pure nutrilites. All strains of gonococcus grow well on casein-hydrolysate-starch agar with 1/200 liver extract. Only the "normal" strains grow if the extract is autoclaved.