Regulation of the utilization of glucose and aromatic substrates in four strains of Pseudomonas putida

Abstract

During the oxidation of various mixtures of glucose and aromatic substrates by four strains of Pseudomonas putida, diauxic growth was not observed. Strain A3.12 grew faster on benzoate than on glucose, whereas three other strains showed faster growth on glucose than on the aromatic test substrates. Growth rates on mixtures of glucose and aromatics were intermediate between those on the single substrates.

The presence of glucose in media containing aromatic substrates accelerated in the bacteria the appearance of the ability to oxidize aromatic substrates. During growth of the organisms on binary mixtures of aromatics, simultaneous utilization of these compounds occurred, the utilization ratio depending on the quality of the compounds as carbon and energy sources. Addition of glucose to dual aromatic substrate media greatly increased the utilization ratio in favour of the “better” aromatic substrate.

With decreasing concentration of glucose in relation to that of aromatic substrates, the rate of carbon assimilation from glucose increased. Enzymological and radiochemical studies demonstrated that even in the presence of an excess of aromatic substrates, glucose was exclusively catabolized via the 2-keto-3-deoxy-6-phosphogluconate pathway. In contrast, the rate of carbon assimilation from ¹⁴C-ring-labelled benzoate and anisate was unaffected by the presence of an excess of glucose.