Propionic acid bacteria growth

Sewage wastes contain as much as 4 ppm of vitamin Bi2 (Hoover et al. 1952B Miner and Wolnak 1953). Although frowned on for aesthetic reasons as a source of vitamin Bi2 for human nutrition, wastes from activated sludge processes may well provide the cheapest source for preparation of vitamin Bi2 concentrates used in cattle feed. Symbiotic growth of lactic and acetic acid bacteria has been recommended for producing sour milk products biologically enriched with vitamin Bi2 (Rykshina 1961). Acetic acid bacteria cultured in whey fortified with cobalt salts led to an 80-fold increase in vitamin B12. Propionic acid bacteria in skim milk supplemented with dimethylbenzimidazole increased the vitamin content by 300-fold. 

Hettinga, D. H. and Reinbold, G. W. 1972A. The propionic-acid bacteria—A review. I. Growth. J. Milk Food TechnoL 35, 295-301. 

Growth factors for bacteria VIII. Pantothenic and nicotinic acids as essential growth factors for lactic and propionic acid bacteria. J. Bacteriol. 38, 293 (1939). 

As mentioned above, propionic, acetic, succinic acids and CO2 are file main, but not the sole fermentation products in propionic acid bacteria. Propionibacteria contain enzymatic systems responsible for the formation of formate, with variable activity levels in different species. P. shermanii and P. arabinosum produced up to 0.077 and 0.160 pM formic acid, respectively, in glucose media (Mashur et al., 1971). In P. jensenii the formation of formic acid was observed in neutral or weakly alkaline lactate media, but the quantity of formate decreased towards the end of the fermentation. Addition of sodium formate to lactate stimulates the growth of propionibacteria (Vorobjeva, 1958a). A small production of formate was found in glucose fermentations of P. shermanii, P. pentosaceum, P. rubrum andP. petersonii (Vorobjeva, 1972). 

Table 3.5. Influence of aeration on growth and cytochrome synthesis by propionic acid bacteria...

In the presence of all amino acids in the medium bacterial growth is facilitated, since amino acids are incorporated into proteins in a readily available form. Preparation methods of casein hydrolysate were found to have important effects on propionibacterial growth. Mixtures of amino acids produced by alkaline, acid and trypsin hydrolysis were tested (Zodrow et al., 1963a) and the best result was achieved with the trypsin hydrolysate. It was suggested that in this case tryptophane is preserved and some peptides are formed which have specific stimulatory effects on the bacterial growth. Nitrate inhibits the deamination of amino acids in cheese by propionic acid bacteria (Peltola and Antila, 1953). 

Potato extract, orange juice and yeast extract all stimulate the fermentation of glucose and acid production by propionic acid bacteria (Tatum et al., 1936). Stimulation by potato extract is associated with some essential growth factors. If synthetic medium is supplemented with yeast extract, then the addition of individual vitamins (biotin, pantothenate, thiamine or /7-aminobenzoic acid) is unnecessary (El-Hagarawy, 1957). In connection with the ability of P. shermanii to synthesize vitamins Karlin (1966) suggested to include these bacteria into dairy products. For example, kefir enriched with P. shermanii contained increased amounts of vitamin Bi, B2, Bg, PP, Bi2, pantothenate, folic and folinic acid as compared with control samples. Especially high increases in the latter four vitamins were observed. 

We (Vorobjeva and Charakhchjan, 1983) showed that propionic acid bacteria can utilize any source of sulfur, fi om the most oxidized (sulfate) to the most reduced (sulfide) (Table 4.3). Good growth was observed in the presence of 6 mM sulfide, a concentration ten times higher than the purple nonsulfur bacterium Rhodopseudomonas globiformis can tolerate. 

Good growth of P. shermanii was supported by thiosulfate and elemental sulfur. In the latter case the culture released sulfide. The reduction of sulfur to H2S can proceed by enzymatic and nonenzymatic pathways, for example, via the formation of sulfide as in E. coli (Okada et al., 1982). The ability of P, shermanii to utilize thiosulfate, sulfite, elemental sulfur and sulfide shows that these compounds serve as intermediates of the assimilatory sulfate reduction in propionic acid bacteria. 

Lactate. Hard rennet cheeses represent a selective habitat for propionic acid bacteria, since they contain lactate formed as the end product of lactose fermentation by lactic acid bacteria. Unlike many other bacteria, propioni-bacteria can utilize lactate efficiently, which is the reason why propioni-bacteria are so abundant in hard, ripened cheeses. Propionic acid bacteria use lactate best in the presence of yeast extract (Antila, 1954), but even higher stimulatory effect is exerted by cell-free extracts of lactic acid bacteria. Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus spp. (Hietaranta and Antila, 1953). Lactate as a carbon source supports higher growth rates of propionic acid bacteria than lactose (El-Hagarawy et al., 1954). 

Propionic acid bacteria are characterized by high growth yield coefficients ... 

Certain natural inhabitants of cheese may exert a stimulatory action on biochemical activities of propionic acid bacteria. In the presence of cheese micrococci the CO2 release by propionic acid bacteria increased by 20% (Ritter et al., 1967). Micrococcus caseolyticus inhibits the growth of E. coli during cheese making and ripening (Laipanov, 1989) and thus creates favorable conditions for propionic acid bacteria. 

Biosynthesis of vitamin Bn by propionic acid bacteria, as we have seen (Section 4.4.5), almost parallels growth under anaerobic conditions. Vitamin Bn accumulates in the cell (the above-mentioned case of vitamin Bn secretion apparently is peculiar to a single mutant strain) mainly as coenzyme forms of incomplete corrinoids. These features are taken into account in the industrial production of vitamin Bn. The culture is grown anaerobically, in a medium containing glucose, corn-steep liquor, ammonium sulfate, and a cobaltous salt, since Co is part of the vitamin Bn molecule. Acids formed by the culture are continuously neutralized with a solution of NaOH or (NH4)20H. 

Antila M and Hietaranta M (1953) Growth inhibition of propionic acid bacteria by propionate. Meijerit Aikakausk 15 3-10... 

Hettinga DH and Reinbold GW (1972a) The propionic acid bacteria - a review. I. Growth. J Milk Food Technol 35 295-301... 

Metabolism. J Milk Food Technol 35 358-372 Hietaranta M and Antila M (1953) The influence of biological nutrients on the growth of propionic acid bacteria in milk. Proc 13th Int Dairy Congr, v 3, pp 1428-1431 Hietaranta M and Antila M (1954) Some aspects of citric acid breakdown in Emmental cheese. MejeritFinl Svensk 16 91-94... 

Iordan EP, Novozhilova TY and Vorobjeva LI (1983) Correlation between the DNA synthesis and vitamin Bn content m Propionibacterium shermanii. Mikrobiologiya 52 591-596 Iordan EP, Novozhilova TY and Vorobjeva LI (1984) Effects of cellular vitamin Bn production on growth and some aspects of the constructive metabolism of Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. shermanii. Prikl Biokhim Mikrobiol 20 765-772 Iordan EP, Petukhova NI and Vorobjeva LI (1986) Regulatory action of vitamin Bn on ribonucleotide reductase system of propionic acid bacteria. Mikrobiologiya 55 533-538 Israel L (1975) Report on 414 cases of human tumors treated with corynebacteria. In Halpem B (ed) Corynebacterium parvum. Applications in Experimental and Clinical Oncology, pp 389-401. Plenum Press, New York... 

Konovalova LV (1970) Influence of polymyxin M on certain metabolic sites of propionic acid bacteria. PhD Thesis, Moscow State University, Moscow Konovalova LV and Vorobjeva LI (1969) Biosynthesis of B-group vitamins by propionic acid bacteria. Nauch Dokl Vys Shkoly Biol Nauki 1 91-93 Konovalova LV and Vorobjeva LI (1970) Influence of antibiotics on the growth and vitamin Bi2 biosynthesis by Propionibacterium shermanii. Nauch Dokl Vys Shkoly Biol Nauki 7 104-108... 

Pankova SV, Abilev SK, Tarasov VA and Ogarkov OA (1993b) Cloning of recA gene of propionic acid bacteria P. shermanii in Escherichia coli. Genetika 29 777-784 Park HS, Reinbold GW, Hammond EG and Clark WS (1967) Growth of propionibacteria at low temperatures. J Dairy Sci 50 589-591... 

Tatum EL, Fred EB, Wood HG and Peterson WH (1936) Essential growth factors for propionic acid bacteria, n. Nature of the Neuberg precipitate fraction of potato replacement by ammonium sulfate or by certain amino acids. J Bacteriol 32 157-174 Taylor MJ and Richardson T (1979) Application of microbial enzymes in food systems and in biotechnology. Adv Appl Microbiol 25 7-35 Thelander L, Graslund A and Thelander M (1983) Continual presence of oxygen and iron required for mammalian ribonucleotide reduction possible regulation mechanism. Biochem Biophys Res Comm 110 859-865... 

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