The effect of nitrogen source on the β-lactamase activity, glycerol utilization, ammonium ion concentration, and some enzyme activities involved in the nitrogen metabolism was studied in a pleiotropic mutant of Streptomyces lavendulae. When polypepton was used as a nitrogen source, β-lactamase activity and glycerol consumption were very low and slow, respectively, and ammonium ion level was relatively and constantly high during the course of fermentation. In contrast, when casein or soybean meal was used, β-lactamase activity was comparable to the level of the parental strain, glycerol was used quickly and ammonium ion concentration was relatively low. Among the enzymes involved in nitrogen metabolism, glutamine synthetase and alanine dehydrogenase activities were comparable to those of the parental strain when casein was used as a nitrogen source, while the activities remained low when polypepton was used.

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The morphology of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 due to biotin in a medium was studied by electron microscopy. The thin- sectioned cell envelope of plasmolysed normal cells revealed three electron-dense layers within the cell wall. Freeze-cleavage occurred at different levels of the cell wall, predominantly between the middle and outermost layers. The main convex faces consisted of closely packed particles and main concave faces consisted of roughly studded small particle areas.
Distinct alterations of the cell wall caused by biotin-deficiency were the formations of blebs and the rearrangements of particles on the main concave faces. The blebs had similar striated structures composed of parallel lines on both fracture faces.

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Chemotaxonomic properties such as cell wall composition, whole cell sugar pattern, phospholipid, menaquinone, mycolic acid and DNA base composition were investigated for five strains proposed as new actinomycete genera in Chinese papers. On the basis of chemotaxonomic data and morphological observation, ‘Microstreptospora cinerea’ JCM 3331 and ‘Streptomycoides glaucoflavus’ JCM 6161 were regarded as members of the genera Streptomyces and Actinomadura, respectively. ‘Actinoalloteichus cyanogriseus’ JCM 6095 was placed in the vicinity of the genus Nocardiopsis, and ‘Parvopolyspora pallida’ was related to the genus Actinomadura or Microtetraspora. Although ‘Trichotomospora caesia’ JCM 6113 was related to the genus Streptomyces in the chemotaxonomic aspect, it still has a possibility to be accommodated within a new genus based on its characteristic morphology.

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