Adaptation of Marine Bacteria to Growth in Media lacking Sodium Chloride

Abstract

THE adaptation of marine bacteria to the ability to grow on ordinary nutrient media prepared with distilled water instead of sea water has been observed in stock cultures; but, paradoxically, procedures designed to acclimatize these forms have not been successful^1,2. The techniques previously reported have involved successive cultivation of the organisms in media progressively diluted with distilled water. A possible reason for the failure of these trials seems to be the complex nature of the adaptive changes required to allow for the simultaneous reduction or omission of all the components of sea water. Accordingly, the possibility of adapting marine bacteria to growing on media prepared with a synthetic sea water lacking only sodium chloride has been tested.