THE METABOLISM OF BRUCELLAE: THE ROLE OF CELLULAR PERMEABILITY

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Abstract
Adjustment of pH and concn. of substrate in the reaction mixture, esterification of reactants, chemical treatment of cells with acetone, toluene, and trans-1, 2-cyclopentanedicarboxylic acid, and physical disruption of the cell wall by freezing-and-thawing, sonic radiation, and alumina trituration were compared as exptl. methods for increasing the permeability of Brucella abortus to metabolites. While each test reaction was not always affected markedly by every method, with the exception of esterification and the pentane acid, the methods generally were mutually confirmatory and thereby supplied reasonable, although indirect, proof that permeability is a limiting factor in these reactions. The methods were used to elicit the oxidation of certain key metabolities (e.g., aspartate, alpha-ketoglutarate, citrate, etc.) that normally are oxidized slowly or not at all by intact cells and to demonstrate to a limited degree the inhibition by malonate of the metabolism of succinate.