The Growth Requirements of Leuconostoc Mesenteroides and Preliminary Studies on its Use as an Assay Agent for Several Members of the Vitamin B Complex.

Many investigators have found that the vitamin B complex is of major importance for the growth of lactic acid bacteria. Although the nutritional requirements of lactobacilli and streptococci have been given prominence, considerable work has also been done on the other members of this group of organisms. For example, Leuconostoc mesenteroides was shown to require pantothenic acid by Snell, Strong, and Peterson (1938), while Bohonos, Hutchings, and Peterson (1941, 1942) observed that added pyridoxin was stimulatory. Snell and Strong (1938, 1939) demonstrated that this organism produced relatively large amounts of riboflavin and that the addition of more of this vitamin was without beneficial effect. The work described in this paper is an endeavor to contribute further to our knowledge of the importance of the vitamin B group in bacterial nutrition. The first section of the paper is concerned with studies on the vitamin requirements of L. mesenteroides, and the second, with attempts to utilize this bacterium for vitamin assays.