Vitamin B 12 formation by a gram-variable methanol-utilizing bacterium

Summary A methanol-utilizing bacterium isolated from soil was studied for ability to produce vitamin B 12. The isolated strain XF is gram-variable, pink-pigmented and rod-shaped. Effects of growth conditions on vitamin B 12 productivity were examined. The maximal yield of vitamin B 12 was 280 g/l in shaked flasks and 236 g/l in fermentation jars.