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. 1987 Jun;55(6):1399–1402. doi: 10.1128/iai.55.6.1399-1402.1987

Acetoin production by wild-type strains and a lactate dehydrogenase-deficient mutant of Streptococcus mutans.

J D Hillman, S W Andrews, A L Dzuback
PMCID: PMC260527  PMID: 3570471

Abstract

Eleven different laboratory strains of Streptococcus mutans representing the various serogroups were found to produce an average of 6.0 +/- 4.8 mM acetoin when grown in glucose-containing medium under aerobic conditions. None of the strains produced detectable acetoin when grown anaerobically. A lactate dehydrogenase-deficient mutant produced acetoin both aerobically and anaerobically and in substantially greater amounts than the wild-type strains did. Substitution of mannitol for glucose resulted in decreased acetoin production by wild-type strains and the lactate dehydrogenase-deficient mutant, indicating a role for NADH2 in the regulation of the acetoin pathway. Pyruvate incorporated into the growth medium of a wild-type strain caused acetoin to be produced anaerobically and stimulated acetoin production aerobically. Cell extracts of a wild-type S. mutans strain were capable of producing acetoin from pyruvate and were (partly) dependent on thiamine PPi. Extracts prepared from aerobically grown cells had approximately twice the acetoin-producing activity as did extracts prepared from anaerobically grown cells. The results indicate that acetoin production by S. mutans may represent an auxiliary reaction of pyruvate dehydrogenase in this organism.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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