Pyruvate-dependent diauxic growth of Rhodospirillum rubrum in light.

When Rhodospirillum rubrum mutant C was first exposed to radiant energy after long-term anaerobic dark growth, the cells often exhibited a diauxic growth response. This happened with pyruvate in the medium and when cultures were exposed to a less-than-growth-saturating white light intensity of about 6,460 lx. Under the growth-saturating light condition, mutant C photometabolized and growth was not affected by Na hypophosphite, an inhibitor of pyruvate fermentation. In lower intensity light, in which diauxie occurred, initial (phase I) growth occurred by fermentation of Na pyruvate and was sensitive to Na hypophosphite inhibition. Once pyruvate was depleted, phase I growth stopped, the bacteriochlorophyll content of the cells began to increase from about 3 nmol/mg of protein, and growth finally resumed phototrophically (phase II). The lag period and phase II growth were influenced by radiant energy. By changing the white light intensity from 2,150 to 753 lx between experiments, the duration of both the lag period and the generation time of cells in phase II growth increased. Diauxic growth was pyruvate dependent. It occurred with pyruvate even if malate, a photometabolizable substrate, was added to the growth medium. Moreover, the biphasic growth response was reversible. It was observed not only with R. rubrum mutant C grown cells photosynthetically, but also when other strains of R. rubrum were placed in pyruvate medium under lowered light conditions. Only R. rubrum S1 did not exhibit the typical pyruvate-dependent diauxic growth response.