CHARACTERIZATION OF ACETOBACTER XYLINUM BY UBIQUINONE SYSTEM

Abstract

All the Acetobacter xylinum strains examined, including the cellulose-forming and celluloseless ones, were found to have the ubiquinone system comprising Q-10 and were discriminated in this respect from any other members of the genus Acetobacter, especially of the mesoxydans group. The significance of difference in the quinone system is discussed from the taxonomic point of view. It is probable that these Acetobacter strains having such a Q-10 system should be re-accepted as a separatespecies A. xylinum from A. aceti, whether they produce the cellulosic leathery pellicles or not.