Isolation and characterization of mutants of Propionibacterium strains.

Procedures were developed to isolate and characterize mutants of strains of dairy propionibacteria. These procedures included the construction of minimal defined media to support growth of the strains, optimization of conditions of exposure of the strains to nitrosoguanidine, and identification of the phenotypes of the mutants that were generated. The minimal defined medium contained inorganic salts, adenosine, three vitamins, and sodium lactate as the carbon source, with cysteine, methionine, or cysteine plus methionine added as required by some strains. For mutagenesis, cells were exposed to either 100, 200, or 1000 micrograms/ml nitrosoguanidine, depending on the sensitivity of the strain, for 60 min at 35 degrees C. At least nine stable mutants were isolated and characterized for each of the five strains under study. The most frequent mutations generated were requirements for arginine, histidine, methionine, and uracil and alteration in pigment production.