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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1968 September; 16(9): 1337-1342
Copyright © 1968 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Growth of Mixed Cultures on Mixed Substrates

I. Continuous Culture

Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

ABSTRACT

Continuous culture on mixed glucose-lactose or glucose-butyrate media inoculated with river water led to a population composed of a pseudomonad and a coliform. The glucose was used preferentially to the other carbon source, and the utilization of the secondary carbon source was greatly reduced at high growth rates. Significant amounts of acetate were excreted even though the cultures were limited by the carbon source, rather than by oxygen or other nutrients. At high growth rates, the pseudomonad dominated the population, whereas at low and moderate growth rates the coliform was dominant. A syntrophic relationship was shown by the fact that the pseudomonad could not grow alone on the glucose-butyrate medium.

¹ Present address: Abcor, Inc., Cambridge, Mass. 02139.