Nutritional requirements for growth of uropathogenic Escherichia coli in human urine

Abstract

Enrichment with D-cycloserine was used to identify Escherichia coli auxotrophic mutants that exhibited limited growth in human urine. Bacterial synthesis of guanine, arginine, and glutamine was found to be required for optimal growth in urine. Mutants that required leucine, methionine, serine, phenylalanine, or proline also exhibited reduced growth in urine. Several other nutritional mutants, including nicotinamide auxotrophs, which are found frequently among cystitis isolates, exhibited normal growth in urine.