title: Fermentation of L-tartrate by a newly isolated gram-negative glycolytic bacterium.
abstract: Enrichments on L-tartrate from a freshwater lake sediment yielded a pure culture of anaerobic bacterium designated strain 16Lt1. The rod-shaped organism was motile, did not form spores, and had a gram-negative wall structure. No cytochromes were detected. The mol % G + C of the DNA was 58. The new strain was microaerotolerant, and grew optimally at 30 degrees C and neutral pH in freshwater medium. A wide range of carbohydrates was fermented, with formate, acetate, ethanol, lactate and succinate being the end-products detected. L-tartrate and citrate were fermented to formate, acetate and CO2. L-tartrate was fermented by the dehydratase pathway, and glucose by the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. Fumarate was reduced, but nitrate, sulfate, sulfur and thiosulfate were not used as terminal electron acceptors. Glucose metabolism was constitutive, whereas L-tartrate-degrading activity was inducible. When glucose and L-tartrate were both present as substrates, growth was diauxic with glucose being metabolized first. The growth rate and growth yield were higher on glucose than on L-tartrate. Strain 16Lt1 has been deposited with the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen as 'Bacteroides' sp. DSM6268.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Janssen
mesh_terms: D001439:Bacteroides / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D013644:Tartrates / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013644:Tartrates; D005947:Glucose; C029768:tartaric acid