Methyl mercaptan and dimethyl disulfide production from methionine by Proteus species detected by head-space gas-liquid chromatography.
Head-space gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry were used to detect and identify products formed by Proteus vulgaris, P. mirabilis, P. morganii, and P. rettgeri from a defined medium supplemented with either phenylalanine, methionine, valine, leucine, histidine, lysine, ornithine, threonine, asparagine, aspartic acid, or tryptophan. In a detailed study of the products formed by 68 strains of Proteus spp. from L-methionine, the production of large amounts of both dimethyl disulfide and methyl mercaptan was found to be a characteristic of the genus. Both sulfur products appeared within a few hours of inoculation. Dimethyl disulfide was a more sensitive indicator of growth than the spectrometric determination of optical density. This suggests that it could be useful for the rapid, automated detection of any species of Proteus.
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods; D004220:Disulfides / Q000378:metabolism*; D005001:Ethionine / Q000378:metabolism; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008715:Methionine / Q000378:metabolism*; D011511:Proteus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D011513:Proteus mirabilis / Q000378:metabolism; D011514:Proteus vulgaris / Q000378:metabolism; D011532:Providencia / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*
D000596:Amino Acids; D004220:Disulfides; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D008715:Methionine; D005001:Ethionine