Abstract
When soil arthrobacters were cultivated in a carbohydrate-rich medium with a relatively low nitrogen content, cells were obtained having a total carbohydrate content ranging from 50 to 70%, calculated on the dry weight. When these cells were endogenously exhausted, approx. 40% of their total carbohydrate was respired in 5 days, giving rise to an equivalent amount of CO2. Disintegration of the cells separated the cell polysaccharides into two fractions: 1) cell-wall polysaccharides in the insoluble cell fragments; these comprised a constant proportion (20–30%) of the dry weight of the cells and they underwent little or no metabolic change, 2) intracellular polysaccharides, soluble in TCA, their concentration varying between 0 and 30% of the dry weight. This fraction, which has earlier been shown to have a glycogen-like structure, was used as a substrate for endogenous respiration. It was also utilized as a carbon source for protein synthesis and subsequently for cell multiplication when a nitrogen compound was added. Cell viability was promoted by the presence of this carbohydrate. These polysaccharides were usually accumulated under conditions of growth inhibition, e.g. by nutrient depletion (nitrogen, phosphorus or sulphur deficiencies) or by growing the cells in an inadequately buffered culture medium (low pH).
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Zevenhuizen, L.P.T.M. Formation and function of the glycogen-like polysaccharide ofArthrobacter . Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 32, 356–372 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02097485
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02097485