Preliminary studies of the metabolic activity of purified suspensions of Mycobacterium leprae.

Mycobacterium leprae isolated from armadillo tissue incorporated radioactivity from D-(14C)glucose and (14C)protein hydrolysate. In the presence of glucose, the rate of incorporation of (14C)protein hydrolysate was increased. Uptake of glucose was inhibited by 2-deoxy-D-glucose and sodium azide; that of the amino acids was inhibited by puromycin and chloramphenicol and, weakly, by cycloheximide.