INDOLE REACTIONS IN BACTERIA

Abstract

Kitasato's (1889) discovery that Escherichia coli could be distinguished from Klebsiella species (Aerobacter aerogenes) by virtue of its ability to produce indole initiated the detection of indole production as an accepted analytical tool for the bacteriologist. The use of p-dimethylamino-benzaldehyde for this purpose, first applied by B6hme (1906), modified by Kovacs (1928), and most recently refined by Gadebusch and Gabriel (1956), has become the accepted method for the detection of this metabolite in cultures. Thus,