Oxygen uptake kinetics of Pseudomonas chlororaphis grown in glucose- or glutamate-limited continuous cultures

Oxygen uptake and glucose and glutamate oxidation kinetics of the heterotrophic bacterium Pseudomonas chlororaphis grown in glucose- or glutamate-limited cultures under oxygen-saturating or oxygen-limiting conditions were determined. K _m values for oxygen were 1.4– 5.6 μM. Only in the case of glucose were significantly lower K _m values and enhanced specific oxygen affinity (V _max/K _m) per cell found under oxygen-limiting conditions. Both K _m and specific affinity values for glucose and glutamate oxidation were apparently affected by oxygen concentration, although a statistically significant enhancement of the oxidation kinetics was found only for glutamate. The kinetic data found for P. chlororaphis support the conclusion that the outcome of competition for oxygen with Nitrosomonas europaea in the rhizosphere of oxygen-releasing macrophytes will primarily be determined by oxidation kinetics of the electron donor instead of the oxygen uptake kinetics of the respective organisms. Received: 20 September 1996 / Accepted: 5 February 1997