Studies on anaerobic bacteria

Summary A new chromogenic anaerobe, Clostridium roseum nov. spec., has been found. It is characterized by: red-orange pigment, turning purplish on oxidation; gelatin liquefaction and other evidence of proteolysis; nitrate reduction; fermentation of various carbohydrates including pectin; close resemblance to Cl. acetobutylicum in corn mash fermentation, with the same neutral products, acetone, ethyl alcohol and butyl alcohol, in nearly the same ratios; agglutinative specificity and separation from Cl. acetobutylicum and Cl. felsineum, as well as several less nearly physiologically related butyric anaerobes.     

Cell-wall lysing enzymes and products of cell-wall digestion elicit ethylene in citrus

Ethylene production was induced in Valencia oranges [ Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbcck] by injection of the fungal enzyme mixture Pectolyase ( Aspergillus japonicus ) which contains pectolytic enzymes into the peel. The mixture also stimulated production of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC). Cycloheximide partially inhibited the Pectolyase-induced ethylene response. Pectin fragments, resulting from partial acid hydrolysis or Pectolyase digestion, caused an increase in ethylene production when injected into the peel of intact orange fruits. Pectic fragments produced by fungal enzymes are known to be elicitors of phytoalexins and in this study are shown to elicit ethylene in citurs.