Development of a new technique for obtaining axenic meat

Summary A new technique for obtaining axenic meat is described. The procedure is based on the use of a liquid peracetic acid lock united with two isolators, permanently connected together. After immersion in a 3% solution of peracetic acid for 2 min, the surfaces of muscles obtained from pig, horse and cattle were shown to be completely decontaminated. Such meats appeared perfectly fit for gnotobiotic studies in the field of meat microbiology.     

Induction and repression of the collagenase synthesis in Acinetobacter sp.]

The synthesis of collagenase in Acinetobacter sp. was found to be inducible by denatured collagen and by its high molecular weight fragments. The presence in the inducer of part of the tertiary structure appear to be indispensable. On the other hand, an addition of Casamino acids, meat protein hydrolysate, or a mixture of amino acids with a similar composition to gelatin does not stimulate collagenase synthesis. Enzyme production was severely repressed in the early phase of growth by glucose, arabinose, and ribose, single amino acids, proline, hydroxyproline, alanine, glutamic acid or casein acid hydrolysate. A mechanism of repression similar to catabolite repression was involved in the phenomenon caused by carbohydrates. However, the fact that cyclic adenosine 3'5-monophosphate did not overcome the repression caused by amino acids or Casamino acids, in contrast to classical catabolite repression, suggests that these two forms of repression may be distinct.