CARBON DIOXIDE FIXATION IN BACILLUS ANTHRACIS

Abstract

Eastin, Jerry D. (U.S. Army Chemical Corps, Frederick, Md.) and Curtis B. Thorne . Carbon dioxide fixation in Bacillus anthracis J. Bacteriol. 85: 410–417. 1963.—Virulent strains of Bacillus anthracis require a concentration of CO 2 greater than that of the normal atmosphere (air) for the production of capsular material (glutamyl polypeptide); avirulent strains may produce no polypeptide or may produce polypeptide in air. Fixation of C 14 O 2 by each of the three types tested resulted in labeling of aspartic acid, glycine, glutamic acid, succinic acid, and an unidentified organic acid. C 14 was detected in aspartic acid after less than 30 sec of exposure of cells to C 14 O 2 . Subsequent flushing of the cells with C 12 O 2 displaced C 14 from aspartic acid but not from the other labeled intermediates. Aspartic acid appears to be closely associated with the primary CO 2 -fixation product, and the data suggest a fairly direct carbon pathway from CO 2 to aspartic acid (oxaloacetic acid) to glutamic acid to glutamyl polypeptide.