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The utilisation of alkylated amines by marine bacteria

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Abstract

Six species of bacteria and a marine yeast which are able to use alkylated amines as a sole source of nitrogen have been isolated from marine mud and tentatively assigned to genera. One isolate (Micrococcus sp.) has been studied in greater detail. This organism has a constitutive ability to utilise trimethylamine and the lesser methylated amines as a sole source of nitrogen. Growth and metabolic studies suggest that the methylated amines are metabolized by a pathway involving a stepwise demethylation process. The implications of the results obtained on the route of regeneration and recycling of amine nitrogen in the marine environment is discussed.

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Communicated by J. E. Smith, Plymouth

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Budd, J.A., Spencer, C.P. The utilisation of alkylated amines by marine bacteria. Marine Biol. 2, 92–101 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351645

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