CARBON DIOXIDE FIXATION IN BACILLUS ANTHRACIS
AUTOR(ES)
Eastin, Jerry D.
RESUMO
Eastin, Jerry D. (U.S. Army Chemical Corps, Frederick, Md.) and Curtis B. Thorne. Carbon dioxide fixation in Bacillus anthracis J. Bacteriol. 85:410–417. 1963.—Virulent strains of Bacillus anthracis require a concentration of CO2 greater than that of the normal atmosphere (air) for the production of capsular material (glutamyl polypeptide); avirulent strains may produce no polypeptide or may produce polypeptide in air. Fixation of C14O2 by each of the three types tested resulted in labeling of aspartic acid, glycine, glutamic acid, succinic acid, and an unidentified organic acid. C14 was detected in aspartic acid after less than 30 sec of exposure of cells to C14O2. Subsequent flushing of the cells with C12O2 displaced C14 from aspartic acid but not from the other labeled intermediates. Aspartic acid appears to be closely associated with the primary CO2-fixation product, and the data suggest a fairly direct carbon pathway from CO2 to aspartic acid (oxaloacetic acid) to glutamic acid to glutamyl polypeptide.
