Characterization of some of the acidic products of glucose fermentation by a large-cell strain of Escherichia coli

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Abstract
Fermentation products of a large-cell strain of Escherichia coli P6 F−ade−T1s and its small-cell parent strain 82/r were examined for acidic carbonyl compounds, ethanol, formic acid, and lactic acid. This large-cell strain is unusual in that there is evidence which indicates that it is a stable large-cell, homozygous diploid. Significantly larger amounts of pyruvic and formic acid were found in media in which E. coli P6 had grown anaerobically with glucose as the carbon source, whereas lactic acid was the predominant product measured in the media in which E. coli 82/r had grown. Under conditions which allowed all available substrate to be fermented during growth of E. coli P6, 82/r, and two large-cell recombinants R11 ade+T1r and R19 ade+T1r a significant amount of residual pyruvic acid was found only in the cultures of E. coli P6 F−ade−T1s. These results were interpreted to indicate that the effect of pyruvate accumulation was not due to the concentration of glucose, the cell size, or the doubled deoxyribonucleic acid content of the large-cell strains. Several other acidic carbonyl compounds were partially characterized. Evidence is presented to substantiate the concept of a genetic defect in E. coli P6 F−ade−T1s whose expression is linked to either the large-cell state and (or) to its doubled content of deoxyribonucleic acid.

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