Studies on the nutrition and physiology of Pasteurella pestis. I. A casein hydrolyzate medium for the growth of Pasteurella pestis.

The amino acid requirements for the growth of Pasteurella pestis have been studied by a number of workers (Rao, 1939; Doudoroff, 1943; Herbert, 1949; Hills and Spurr, 1952; Rockenmacher et al., 1952; and Higuchi and Carlin, 1958). Very little is known, however, regarding the role of peptides in the nutrition of this organism. Peptides have been reported to be superior to free amino acids in the nutrition of a number of microorganisms (Fruton and Simmonds, 1949; Hendlin, 1954; Kihara and Snell, 1955; and Wright, 1956). Higuchi and Carlin (1957) reported that P. pestis was capable of utilizing peptides in a partially hydrolyzed casein medium. Their results suggested that a study of the peptide nutrition of this organism might be of value.