Growth patterns and substrate requirements of naturally occurring obligate oligotrophs

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Abstract
Eighteen strains of obligately oligotrophic bacteria that grow in a medium containing 1 mg of organic carbon per liter and do not grow in a rich medium (5 g/liter of nutrient) were isolated as dominant organisms from the oligotrophic water of Lake Biwa. The growth properties of these, especially of five strains, were examined. The maximum cell yield ranged from 8.5×104/ml to 2.3×106/ml, and their doubling times ranged from 6.6/h to 11.8/h in LT10−4 medium (0.5 mg trypticase and 0.05 mg yeast extract in 1 liter of filtered and aged lake water). They also showed good growth in lake water medium without adding nutrients. The optimum concentrations for their growth were 5 mg/1, 5–50 mg/1, 50 mg/1, or 500 mg/1, depending on the strains. They utilized glutamate, glycine, serine, and glycolate, but not acetate, proline, or leucine. Several properties were examined. Their growth properties were very different from those of oligotrophs or oligocarbophiles isolated by other researchers.