The enzymes involved in methanol degradation by Desulfotomaculum kuznetsovii, a thermophilic, methanol utilizing sulfate reducer were studied. Low NAD-dependent and dye-linked alcohol dehydrogenase activities were detected with methanol in cell free extracts of D. kuznetsovii grown on methanol. However, activities with ethanol as electron donor were 10 times higher. The alcohol dehydrogenase fr...

Interest in this laboratory has focused upon the metabolism of the acetic acid bacteria since the superior activity of bound forms of pantothenic acid (PAC) ((1, 2); coenzyme A (3, 4)) over the free vitamin was discovered. The disclosure that pantetheine (Lactobadus bulgaricus factor) is a mercaptan capable of coexisting with an oxidized disulfide form (5) has led to speculation as to whether c...

Generally the so-called Meyerhof-Embden scheme is considered to be the major pathway of hexose dissimilation by members of the genus Propionibacterium. Two lines of evidence supporting this premise are the isolation, coupled with a demonstration of their utilization, of several of the intermediates of glycolysis (Wood, Stone, and Werkman, 1937; Werkman, Stone, and Wood, 1937; Barker and Lipmann...

Osburn, Brown and Werkman (1937) observed a critical pH level in the dissimilation of glucose by Clostridium butylicum near 6.3. Above this level butyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol were not formed. The significance of this critical pH was attributed to the fact that in mixtures of acetic (or butyric) acid and its sodium salt below 6.3 there will be "free" acid, i.e., acid which can be distille...