The 503nm pigment of Escherichia coli

The yield of cell protein was one-third less for streptomycin-dependent Escherichia coli B than for the wild-type parent strain when both were grown aerobically on a medium with limiting glucose, but anaerobically the yield of protein was similar for both strains. The transient pigment absorbing at 503nm that is known to be present in E. coli and other organisms was not detectable in streptomycin-dependent mutants nor in a non-dependent (energy-deficient) revertant. When wild-type E. coli B was grown on limiting glucose-salts medium containing 2,4 dinitrophenol, the yield of cell protein was decreased and formation of the 503nm pigment was inhibited. Fumarase, aconitase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase were de-repressed in E. coli B cells grown with excess of glucose in a medium containing 2,4-dinitrophenol. In air-oxidized, wild-type E. coli B cells, the 503nm pigment appeared before reduced cytochromes when gluconate was the substrate but failed to appear when succinate was the substrate. The results provide evidence for a role of the 503nm pigment in aerobic energy metabolism, possibly as an electron acceptor from NADPH.