Abstract
Growth of Streptococcus faecalis in a complex medium was inhibited by xenon, nitrous oxide, argon, and nitrogen at gas pressures of 41 atm or less. The order of inhibitory potency was: xenon and nitrous oxide > argon > nitrogen. Helium appeared to be impotent. Oxygen also inhibited streptococcal growth and it acted synergistically with narcotic gases. Growth was slowed somewhat by 41 atm hydrostatic pressure in the absence of narcotic gases, but the gas effects were greater than those due to pressure. In relation to the sensitivity of this bacterium to pressure, we found that the volume of cultures increased during growth in a volumeter or dilatometer, and that this dilatation was due mainly to glycolysis. A volume increase of 20.3 ± 3.6 ml/mole of lactic acid produced was measured, and this value was close to one of 24 ml/mole lactic acid given for muscle glycolysis, and interestingly, close to the theoretic volume increase of activation calculated from the depression of growth rate by pressure.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (813.8 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Chance B., Jamieson D., Coles H. Energy-linked pyridine nucleotide reduction: inhibitory effects of hyperbaric oxygen in vitro and in vivo. Nature. 1965 Apr 17;206(981):257–263. doi: 10.1038/206257a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FENN W. O. PHARMACOLOGY IN HYPERBARIC OXYGENATION. INERT GAS NARCOSIS. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1965 Jan 21;117:760–767. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rahn O. PHYSICAL METHODS OF STERILIZATION OF MICROORGANISMS. Bacteriol Rev. 1945 Mar;9(1):1–47. doi: 10.1128/br.9.1.1-47.1945_1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]