Abstract
Investigations were made on the nutritional requirements and simple synthetic medium for Bacillus thiaminolyticus. Ammonium ion was found to be utilized as a nitrogen source, producing thiaminase in the medium, but the nitrogen of nitrite or nitrate was not utilized. Glycerine has a favorable effect on the growth, whereas glucose was proved to be inhibitory. The optimum amount of thiamine for the organism was 0.01 to 0.5 μg/ml of the medium, 10 μg/ml of the vitamin inhibited the growth of almost all strains of the Bacillus tested. A new simple synthetic medium suitable for studying the metabolism of the Bacillus was established. By aerating the culture, the growth was promoted, producing a significant amount of thiaminase.
