The accumulation of salicylic acid by mycobacteria during growth on an iron-deficient medium

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Abstract
Salicylic acid was isolated from and identified in the culture medium of Mycobacterium smegmatis grown on Proskauer and Beck medium that originally had contained no aromatic compounds. During surface growth of M. smegmatis, M. tuberculosis BCG and M. phlei on full medium (2-3 of Fe and 0.46 ug of Zn/ml), salicylic acid accumulated in the medium at 100[long dash]160 Mg/g of cells dry wt. Only slightly more salicylic acid accumulated during growth on Zn deficient medium (0-06 ug of Zn/ml). With Fe-deficient medium (0.43 Mg of Fe/ml) 10[long dash]50 times the normal concentration accumulated (greatest with M. smegmatis at 4- 2 mg/g of cells dry wt. The accumulation of salicylic acid was slightly increased when cultures of M. smegmatis were shaken continuously. In all cases the amount of the acid found on hydrolysis of cells was small. The majority was released into the medium during growth. The presence of other phenolic acids or phenols was not revealed on examination of the culture media of M. smegmatis.