Degradation of Glucose by Proliferating Cells of Desulfotomaculum nigrificans

Desulfotomaculum nigrificans degraded glucose to acetate, ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide. By use of ¹⁴C-glucose labeled at different carbon atoms, two pathways of glucose metabolism were detected. They were the Embden-Meyerhof and the Entner-Doudoroff schemes. Because the observed quantities of acetate and carbon dioxide, arising from glucose, were greater than the expected theoretical values, individual fermentations were conducted with 15 uniformly labeled ¹⁴C-amino acids. The results indicated that amino acids, supplied by the yeast extract or peptone in the fermentation medium, also contributed to the formation of acetate and carbon dioxide.