Production of Hydrogen Sulfide by Streptomyces odorifer

COLLINS, R. P. (University of Connecticut, Storrs), AND H. D. GAINES. Production of hydrogen sulfide by Streptomyces odorifer. Appl. Microbiol. 12:335-336. 1964.-By use of various trapping systems, as well as lead acetate papers, Streptomyces odorifer was shown to produce hydrogen sulfide. Other sulfur-containing compounds may be produced by S. odorifer, but the amounts obtained were too small for detailed analysis. It was suggested that hydrogen sulfide might be a part of the earthy-odor complex l)roduced by S. odorifer. A number of microorganisms are known to produce hydrogen sulfide as a metabolic by-product. The compound appears to originate from sulfur-containing anmino acids. Tarr (1933) showed that, with washed cells of Proteus vulgaris, L-cystine undergoes anaerobic decomposition to form two molecules each of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, acetic acid, and formic acid. Desnuelle (1939a, b) and Desnuelle and Fromageot (1939) showed that Escherichia coli produces hydrogen sulfide from cysteine. Binkley (1943) showed that brewer's and baker's yeasts contain a cysteine desulfurase which produces hydrogen sulfide from cysteine. In the present study, the actinomycete Streptomyces odorifer (Rullmann emend. Lachner-Sandoval) was investigated for the production of hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur-containing compounds. Previous experiments (Gaines and Collins, 1963) had shown that S. odorifer produced a number of compounds which might partially make up the earthy odor characteristic of this organism; however, sulfur-containing conmpounds were not investigated. MIATERIALS AND METHODS The culture of S. odorifer was obtained from the American Type Culture Collection and maintained on nutrient agar slants at 20 C. The inoculum for 250-ml Erlenmeyer shake flasks was obtained by transferring a small piece of agar containing spores and myceliunm to each shake flask and incubating the flasks at 25 C for approximately 60 hr. The contents of these flasks then served as the inoculum for six large (2,500 ml) petticoat flasks containing 800 ml of nutrient broth. These flasks were incubated on a reciprocal shaker for approximately 60 hr at 25 C. The factors in the initial experiments which suggested that hydrogen sulfide might be present were the odor of the culture nmedium and the blackening of lead acetate papers held at the tip of the condenser during the distillation