EFFECT OF HEMIN AND OXYGEN TENSION ON GROWTH AND NITRATE REDUCTION BY BACTERIA

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Abstract
The effect of hemin supplementation of growth media on the ability of several bacteria to reduce nitrate was studied. Added hemin had no detectable effect on the ability of these organisms to reduce nitrate when grown in stationary cultures exposed to air. However, under anaerobic conditions, six strains of facultatively anaerobic staphylococci required hemin for nitrate reduction and growth stimulation in complex, nitrate-containing media. In a nutritionally defined medium, one strain of Staphylococcus required both hemin and nitrate for anaerobic growth. Anaerobic growth and nitrite production of the aerobe Bacillus subtilis was stimulated by addition of hemin. However, the anaerobic growth response was markedly decreased as compared with that obtained under static atmospheric conditions. Hemin had no detectable effect on anaerobic nitrate reduction or growth of the obligate aerobe Pseudomonas denitrificans, or of the facultative anaerobes Escherichia coli, B. polymyxa and Corynebacterium diphtheriae.