Uncoupling in Bacterial Growth: Effect of Pantothenate Starvation on Growth of Zymomonas mobilis

Abstract

SUMMARY Pantothenate starvation of Zymomonas mobilis resulted in a simultaneous decrease of both the molecular growth yield and of the specific growth rate, when the organism was grown on glucose. In all treatments the rate of cellular catabolic activity, i.e. the rate of glucose fermentation per unit of dry weight of organism, remained constant. These experiments showed that for Z. mobilis, as for numerous other organisms, anabolic processes do not control catabolic activity.