Inhibitory action of tetrathionate enrichment broth

Tetrathionate enrichment broth is a complex mixture of salts including iodides and other polythionates, but only thiosulfate (0.0736 m) and tetrathionate (0.0236 m) in combination were toxic for Escherichia coli. Individually, these two salts were not lethal. The lethal action of this thiosulfate-tetrathionate mixture affected only growing cells. A possible relationship between the lethality of the thiosulfate-tetrathionate mixture for a culture and its ability to reduce tetrathionate is suggested.