The Influence of Vitamin C on the Growth of Anaerobes in the Presence of Air, with Special Reference to the Relative Significance of Eh and O 2 in the Growth of Anaerobes

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Abstract
Addition of vit. C to fluid media favors the growth of Clostridium welchii in the presence of air. Glucose improves growth but does not affect the minimal amount of vitamin required to make growth possible. In tyrode-peptone media the amt. of vit. C required to make growth possible decreases (within limits) as the conc. of peptone is increased. If the conc. of vit. C is below 0.05%, growth fails even if large amounts of peptone are added. The reduction potential of the medium at which growth of Cl. w. occurred was about[long dash]0.125 v. Addition of glucose does not modify the potential and exerts no influence on the loss of vit. C. Addition of peptone lowers the potential and exerts a protective effect on the vitamin added to the medium. Vit. C presumably acts as a catalyzer for anaerobes. It lowers the reduction potential of the medium but does not appreciably affect the O2 tension. Anaerobic growth is evidently detd. by the Eh and not by O2 tension. Growth is possible in the presence of air when the Eh is sufficiently low. If the Eh is above the critical point, free O2 interferes with the oxidation-reduction processes of the cell.