Salt desideratum of Vibrio costicolus, an obligate halophilic bacterium. I. Ionic replacement of sodium chloride requirement.

Halophilism has been of considerable interest since the report of Farlow (1880) on the reddening of salted fish. Any industry using either a salt packing process or a salt brine must be concerned with the control of halophiles. Considerable work has been done, therefore, with the isolation, identification, and control of these organisms. Stuart, Frey, and James (1933), Gibbons (1936), Lefevre and Round (1919), Harrison and Kennedy (1922), Kellerman (1914), and others have reviewed the literature concerned with this work. In contrast to this work very few studies have been carried out on the effect of environmental conditions established by salt on these organisms. This is due, in part, to the problems encountered in cultivation since almost all obligate halophiles grow slowly and best on solid media. The purpose of this paper is to present results of an investigation on the salt requirement of an obligate halophilic bacterium, Vibrio costicolus,1 with particular reference to the replacement of its sodium chloride requirement with a variety of cations and anions.