[Respiration of oligonitrophilic bacteria]

The respiration rate of 25 studied oligonitrophilous strains belonging to various genera and species of bacteria varied within wide limits depending on their taxonomy, conditions of cultivation, substrates, and other factors. No strict correlation was established between the respiration rate and the activity of nitrogen fixation. One of the typical properties of oligonitrophilous bacteria is a high rate of endogeneous respiration --50% and more of the respiration rate during assimilation of exogeneous substrates. The level of oxidative metabolism of oligonitrophilous bacteria was found to be higher on media containing bound nitrogen than on media without nitrogen.