Synthesis of cellulose by Acetobacter xylinum. VI. Growth on citric acid-cycle intermediates.

Gromet-Elhanan, Zippora (The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel) and Shlomo Hestrin. Synthesis of cellulose by Acetobacter xylinum. VI. Growth on citric acid-cycle intermediates. J. Bacteriol. 85:284-292. 1963.-Acetobacter xylinum could be made to grow on ethanol, acetate, succinate, or l-malate. The growth was accompanied by formation of opaque leathery pellicles on the surface of the growth medium. These pellicles were identified as cellulose on the basis of their chemical properties, solubility behavior, and infrared absorption spectra. Washed-cell suspensions prepared from cultures grown on ethanol or the organic acids, in contrast to washed sugar-grown cells, were able to transform citric-cycle intermediates into cellulose. The variations in the substrate spectrum of cellulose synthesis between sugar-grown cells and organic acids-grown cells were found to be correlated with differences in the oxidative capacity of the cells. The significance of the findings that A. xylinum could be made to grow on ethanol on complex as well as synthetic media is discussed from the viewpoint of the whole pattern of Acetobacter classification.