EXTRACELLULAR ACCUMULATION OF TREHALOSE AND GLUCOSE BY BACTERIA GROWN ON N-ALKANES

A bacterium isolated in our laboratory, Arthrobacter poraffineus KY 4303, when grown on an n-al kane as the sole source of carbon, accumulated anthrone-positive substances in the culture medium. These were isolated in crystalline forms and identified respectively as α,α-trehalose and d-glucose. The addition of penicillin to the growing culture led to a remarkable increase in the accumulation of trehalose. It attained to approximately 5 to 6 g per liter, corresponding to 60˜70% of total sugars accumulated in the culture medium. Extracellular accumulation of these sugars was also observed in other bacteria which can utilize n-alkanes as the sole source of carbon. © 1969 Taylor and Francis Group LLC.