Oxidation of glucose, glycerol and acetate by Staphylococcus aureus

Because of the importance of Staphylococcus aureus as a test organism in assay of antibiotics, detailed information about its metabolism is desirable. While comparing the oxidation of glycerol and glucose in microrespiration experiments, we observed that resting suspensions rarely consumed enough oxygen for complete oxidation of these two substrates. Krebs (1937) also reported incomplete oxidation of glucose, glycerol, lactate and pyruvate by 18-24 hr. old cells of Staph. aureu8. Usually about 2*5 mol. of oxygen/mol. of glucose is rapidly consumed followed by a slow uptake. The observed uptake of oxygen and respiratory quotients in our experiments could be accounted for if acetic acid is assumed to be an