Studies of the Van den Bergh reaction

BACTERIAL OXIDATION OF HYDROXY-STEROIDS 81oxidation (Gallagher & Long, 1943), or to the oxidizing action of A. faecali8 (Hoehn, Schmidt & Hughes, 1944); in both of these cases the C3 -OH is the last of three hydroxyl groups to undergo oxidation.The bacterial cells of the Proactinomyces spp.evidently contain no enzymic mechanism capable of hydrolyzing ester-linkages, since cholesterol acetate under the above conditions was recovered unchanged, and androstenediol-17 -benzoate yielded testosterone benzoate.SUMMARY Various of the more common hydroxy-steroids have been found to be oxidized to keto-derivatives by Proactinomyces spp., and the available evidence suggests the possible general nature of the method in the steroid series.