Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied Microbiology logoLink to Applied Microbiology
. 1970 Sep;20(3):485–491. doi: 10.1128/am.20.3.485-491.1970

Increased Sensitivity of the Microbiological Assay for Biotin by Lactobacillus plantarum

James R Waller 1
PMCID: PMC376964  PMID: 5485730

Abstract

Addition of Tween 80 to biotin assay medium containing acid-hydrolyzed casein as the amino acid source caused marked growth of Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 in the absence of added biotin. This growth-promoting activity could be eliminated by treating the “vitamin-free” Casamino Acids (Difco) with activated charcoal (Darco G-60) at pH 3.5 for 30 to 60 min. Incorporation of Tween 80 and charcoal-purified Casamino Acids (PCA) into the assay medium (0.8 g and 27 g, respectively, per liter of single strength medium) in place of unpurified Casamino Acids resulted in a medium in which L. plantarum responded to 30 to 50 times less biotin over an extended linear response range (1.3 logs versus 1.0 log) than was required for similar growth in the standard medium. Endogenous growth in the modified medium was absent if the inoculum used was of low density, if it was prepared from biotin-deficient cells, and if the reagents used were free from contaminating traces of biotin. Assays of biological materials for biotin content using the standard medium and the Tween 80-PCA-modified medium resulted in nearly identical values for all samples tested.

Full text

PDF
485

Selected References

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

  1. BROQUIST H. P., SNELL E. E. Biotin and bacterial growth. I. Relation to aspartate, oleate, and carbon dioxide. J Biol Chem. 1951 Jan;188(1):431–444. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Birnbaum J. Coenzyme repression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase by (+)-biotin. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1969 Jul;132(2):436–441. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(69)90386-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. CROOM J. A., MCNEILL J. J., TOVE S. B. BIOTIN DEFICIENCY AND THE FATTY ACIDS OF CERTAIN BIOTIN-REQUIRING BACTERIA. J Bacteriol. 1964 Aug;88:389–394. doi: 10.1128/jb.88.2.389-394.1964. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. GLICK D., FERGUSON R. B. Histochemistry. 67. Microscopic microbiological assay. Determination of biotin to 10-15 gram. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1962 Apr;109:811–814. doi: 10.3181/00379727-109-27343. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. GLICK D., LICHSTEIN H. C., FERGUSON R. B., TWEDT R. M. Studies in histochemistry. LIII. Microbiological assay in quantitative histo- and cytochemistry. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1958 Dec;99(3):660–662. doi: 10.3181/00379727-99-24454. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. LICHSTEIN H. C., WALLER J. R. Factors affecting the accumulation of biotin by Lactobacillus arabinosus. J Bacteriol. 1961 Jan;81:65–69. doi: 10.1128/jb.81.1.65-69.1961. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Rogers T. O., Lichstein H. C. Regulation of biotin transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Bacteriol. 1969 Nov;100(2):565–572. doi: 10.1128/jb.100.2.565-572.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Waller J. R., Lichstein H. C. Biotin transport and accumulation by cells of Lactobacillus plantarum. I. General properties of the system. J Bacteriol. 1965 Oct;90(4):843–852. doi: 10.1128/jb.90.4.843-852.1965. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES