[Respiration and dehydrogenase activity of pigmentless variants of Staphylococcus aureus]

Respiration and dehydrogenase activity were studied in four pigmentless mutants of Staphylococcus aureus 209-P. The rate of oxygen uptake from the incubation medium was higher in the mutants than in the parent strain. The rate of respiration and the activity of dehydrogenase in the pigmentless mutants were found to depend on the permeability of the cell membrane for substrates of respiration; carotenoids are presumed to be involved in this permeability.