[Acetic acid, a catabolite repressor of cholinesterase synthesis by an Arthrobacter simplex culture]

Acetic acid was found to repress cholinesterase synthesis in the cells of Arthrobacter simplex var. cholinesterasus even at very low concentrations (0.1%). The repression is very stable. It is not eliminated by glucose or an organic acid of the Krebs cycle being added to the medium with acetic acid. The combination of acetic and butyric acids decreases the repression but does not eliminate it. The kinetics of cholinesterase synthesis was different in the cells grown on the medium with acetic acid and the cells cultivated on the medium with acetic acid and glucose, then washed and transferred to a fresh growth medium with glucose and acetylcholine as the sources of carbon.