[Specificity of bacterial response to variation of isotopic composition of water].

Culture growth of bacteria with different membrane lipid composition was studied in liquid media with different isotope content of water. The concentration of deuterium in water was varied from 0.01 to 90%. It was shown that large concentrations of deuterium cause the inhibition of all cultures except Deinococcus radiodurans, the most stable living cell. Two cultures, Methylobacterium organophilum and Hyphomonas jannaschiana, showed a pronounced activation at a deuterium concentration of 0.01%. At higher deuterium concentrations, the inhibition of culture growth was observed. The strains Renobacter vacuolatum, Arcocella aquatica NO502 and Caulobacter crescentus did not show any significant effect at low concentrations of deuterium.