General approach to bacterial nutrition: growth factor requirements of Moraxella nonliquefaciens

A general procedure was devised for the determination of growth factor requirements of heterotrophic bacteria based upon identification of individual nutrients as they are successively depleted from a limited quantity of complex medium. By using this approach, it was possible to develop a defined medium for growth of Moraxella nonliquefaciens that contained nine amino acids and three vitamins. Three of the amino acids, proline, serine, and cysteine, were required in unusually high concentrations to obtain optimal growth. Methionine had a sparing action on the requirements for serine and cysteine. Glycine could substitute for serine. Although a required nutrient, cysteine was inhibitory for growth, but this inhibitory action was antagonized by valine or leucine. The requirement for cysteine was satisfied by cystine, glutathione, or sodium sulfide. M. nonliquefaciens could not use ammonia as a nitrogen source but could use glutamate or aspartate for this purpose. With the exception of 1 auxotrophic strain, the growth factor requirements of 23 independently isolated strains of M. nonliquefaciens were essentially the same.