1942/05/01 by Charles Stuart, Alice Zimmerman, Muriel Baker +1 · 2 citations
Environmental Science · #Bacteriophages and microbial interactions #Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1128/jb.43.5.557-572.1942
openalex publication_date 1942/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
In 1904 Eijkman found that cultures of Escherichia produced gas from glucose broth at 4600. while Aerobacter did not. At-tempts to confirm Eijkman's findings were so contradictory that for some time the test was practically abandoned. Recent work by Levine et al. (1934), Wilson et al. (1935) and Hajna et al. (1939) has revived interest in this test. The introduction of a highly buffered tryptose lactose broth by Perry (1939) seems to have solved many of the difficulties encountered in the test. Work with the Eijkman test has been confined for the most part to the coliform bacteria. Moreover, most investigators have been concerned only with the production of gas from carbo-hydrates at high temperatures. The purpose of the present in-vestigation was to determine the ability of several genera of the Family Enterobacteriaceae to grow, to produce acid, or to produce gas in the modified Eijkman medium at 45.50C. The tests were done in a constant level water bath maintained at 45.5°0. with a variation of less than 0.1 of one degree. The water level was at least one inch above the level of the medium in the tubes. Difco dehydrated Eijkman broth was used through-out these experiments with brom-thymol-blue indicator added. Cultures were rapidly transplanted to the Eijkman broth in groups of twelve, and since it took approximately three and one-half minutes to bring the temperature of the medium to 45.50C. not more than several minutes elapsed between the time of inocu-lation of any Eijkman tube and the time it reached temperature. When large numbers of cultures were tested, each group of twelve tubes was brought to temperature in a small bath and then trans-ferred to the test bath so that the temperature in the test bath remained constant. A great majority of Escherichia cultures produced from 40 to 60 per cent gas in 12 to 24 hours. Inverted shell vials 45 x 10 mm. were used in the sugar broths. In the early part of our work on the coliform organisms gas volumes were measured by holding