title: [Magnesium orthophosphate, a new form of reserve phosphates in the halophilic archaeon Halobacterium salinarium].
abstract: The accumulation and utilization of reserve phosphates in the extremely halophilic archaeon Halobacterium salinarium were studied. The growth of H. salinarium was found to depend on the initial concentration of inorganic phosphate (Pi) in the culture medium and its content in the inoculum. Growing cells consumed 85-95% of Pi from the medium. Unlike the reserve phosphates of many other microorganisms, which are mainly polyphosphates, the reserve phosphates of H. salinarium cells contain no more than 15% polyphosphates, the rest being magnesium orthophosphate. The excessive consumption of Pi from the medium changed cell morphology and caused the death of part of the cell population. The cells that remained viable could grow in a Pi-deficient medium, utilizing about 70% of reserve magnesium phosphate as the phosphorus source.
authors.affiliation: Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Nauki 5, Pushchino, Moscow Oblast, 142290 Russia. alex77@ibpm.serpukhov.su
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Smirnov
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Suzina
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Kulakovskaia
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Kulaev
mesh_terms: D003470:Culture Media; D006217:Halobacterium / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D017616:Magnesium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*; D010710:Phosphates / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D017616:Magnesium Compounds; D010710:Phosphates; C030781:magnesium phosphate