Role of sulfhydryls in in vitro growth of Mycobacterium lepraemurium

In an attempt to evaluate various factors that influence the growth of Mycobacterium lepraemurium in NC-5 medium, the effects of sulfur and --SH compounds were investigated. Cysteine could be replaced by equimolar concentrations of other --SH compounds containing carboxyl group, and at lower concentrations by nonpolar sulfhydryl compounds. The oxidized form of sulfhydryls, as well as certain organic and inorganic reducing agents, did not support growth. The results suggest that the function of sulfhydryl compounds is to maintain low reducing potential in the medium and also to participate in metabolic or biosynthetic pathways or both. A combination of dithiothreitol and thioglycolate gave better results than when these compounds were incorporated individually in the medium. This suggests the protective action of dithiothreitol in preventing oxidation of monothiols.