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Inorganic and Metal-Organic Growth Requirements of the Genus Bacteroides¹

^a Division of Microbiology and Veterinary Medicine, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071

ABSTRACT

The inorganic and metal-organic growth requirements of ruminal and nonruminal Bacteroides species were compared. The heme requirement of many nonruminal Bacteroides species was similar to that of Bacteroides ruminicola subsp. ruminicola and was a general tetrapyrrole requirement. Some nonruminal Bacteroides species utilized succinate or alpha-ketoglutarate, as well as tetrapyrrole-containing compounds, in place of heme. Fe⁺ as well as heme was required for maximal yields of some Bacteroides species. The divalent cation requirements of Bacteroides species are complex. Mg²⁺ deletion from a medium containing Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Co²⁺, and Mn²⁺ reduced the yields of all isolates. Ca²⁺ deletion from the same medium reduced the growth yields of Bacteroides fragilis, B. fundiliformis, and one strain of B. oralis. The effects of Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ on the growth of Bacteroides isolates was influenced by other divalent cations. Relatively large quantities of Na⁺ were obligately required by all of the currently recognized predominant rumen Bacteroides species. Nonruminal Bacteroides species either did not require Na⁺ or required only small amounts. The Na⁺ requirement of some nonruminal Bacteroides species could be partially replaced by Li⁺ or Cs⁺. The Na⁺ requirement of rumen Bacteroides species was absolute. The inorganic and metal-organic growth requirements of Bacteroides species appear useful as aids in species differentiation.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director, Wyoming Agriculture Experiment Station, as journal article no. 619.