Abstract
The pyrimidine analogue 5-fluorouracil was shown to be a potent inhibitor of the growth ofMethanobacterium thermoautotrophicum strain Marburg (50% inhibition of growth at 1 μg ml−1). The nucleoside, 5-fluorodeoxyuridine, also inhibited growth, but the nucleotide 5-fluorodeoxyuridylate did not inhibit, nor did 5-fluorocytosine. Several nucleobases and nucleosides were used as potential antagonists of fluorouracil and fluorodeoxyuridine. Of these, only uracil in excess over fluorouracil relieved the inhibition of growth. These results imply that a pyrimidine salvage pathway is present inM. thermoautotrophicum. 5-Fluorouracil does not inhibit methane production. Although treated cultures produced less methane than did controls, more than twice as much methane was synthesized per cell. This result suggests that methanogenesis is uncoupled from growth by 5-fluorouracil.
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Teal, R., Nagle, D.P. Effects of 5-fluorouracil on growth and methanogenesis inMethanobacterium thermoautotrophicum (Marburg). Current Microbiology 14, 227–230 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01568523
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01568523