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Ammonium Toxicity in Bacteria

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Abstract

Although an excellent nitrogen source for most bacteria, ammonium was—in analogy to plant and animal systems—assumed be detrimental to bacteria when present in high concentrations. In this study, we examined the effect of molar ammonium concentrations on different model bacteria, namely, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus subtilis. The studied bacteria are highly resistant to ammonium. When growth was impaired upon addition of molar (NH4)2SO4 concentrations, this was not caused by an ammonium-specific effect but was due to an enhanced osmolarity or increased ionic strength of the medium. Therefore, it was concluded that ammonium is not detrimental to C. glutamicum and other bacteria even when present in molar concentrations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Stephanie Kadow and Christine Eilender for technical support and Reinhard Krämer for continuous interest and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Biochemie, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Str. 47, Köln, 50674, Germany

    Tim Müller, Britta Walter, Astrid Wirtz & Andreas Burkovski

  2. International Max Planck Research School, Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, Köln, 50829, Germany

    Tim Müller

  3. Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstr. 5, Erlangen, 91058, Germany

    Britta Walter & Andreas Burkovski

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  1. Tim Müller
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  2. Britta Walter
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  4. Andreas Burkovski
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Correspondence to Andreas Burkovski.

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Müller, T., Walter, B., Wirtz, A. et al. Ammonium Toxicity in Bacteria. Curr Microbiol 52, 400–406 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-005-0370-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-005-0370-x

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