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Factors determining the degree of anaerobiosis of Bifidobacterium strains

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Summary

The degree of sensitivity of twelve Bifidobacterium (Lactobacillus bifidus) strains to O2 was determined by measuring the size of the inhibition zones obtained when the bacteria were grown in deep agar cultures under air, and by measuring growth in aerated cultures. The size of the inhibition zones varied from 1 to 23 mm. Growth in aerated cultures differed markedly for the strains investigated. No strain grew on agar plates under aerobic conditions.

The small inhibition zone of three Bifidobacterium strains might be explained by the presence of a weak catalase activity, which removes traces of H2O2 possibly formed. It is also possible that the NADH oxidase of these strains does not form H2O2 at all. Most probably, the lack of growth on an agar medium results from the fact that these strains only grow below a certain oxidation-reduction potential.

One strain, which was rather insensitive to O2, formed a small amount of H2O2 from NADH oxidation. The absence of H2O2 in aerated liquid cultures and cell suspensions of this strain, which lacked catalase and NAD peroxidase activity, must be explained by removal of the traces of H2O2 formed, by an unknown peroxidase system or by a chemical reaction with pyruvate formed during glucose fermentation.

For two strains, which were moderately sensitive to O2, accumulation of H2O2 seems to be the principal reason for anaerobiosis. H2O2 turned out to inactivate specifically fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase, a key enzyme of the fermentation pathway of bifidobacteria.

In the culture medium of two strains, which were extremely sensitive to O2, no H2O2 could be detected after aeration. During anaerobic growth of these strains, the oxidation-reduction potential of the culture decreased so much that neutral red was decolourized. Cell suspensions of these strains only fermented glucose when cysteine was added. It was concluded that these strains required a low oxidation-reduction potential for growth and fermentation.

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  1. Botanical Laboratory, Microbiology Department, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Wytske De Vries & A. H. Stouthamer

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  1. Wytske De Vries
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  2. A. H. Stouthamer
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De Vries, W., Stouthamer, A.H. Factors determining the degree of anaerobiosis of Bifidobacterium strains. Archiv. Mikrobiol. 65, 275–287 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00407109

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