Patterns of Phosphatase Activity among Enterobacterial Species

The phosphatase activities of cells of representative enterobacterial species were studied after cells were grown in a chemically defined medium with variations in the amounts of phosphates and in pH (4.00 to 9.00). All strains of a given species demonstrated similar acid phosphatase activities after growth in the presence or absence of phosphates. In contrast, alkaline phosphatase was produced only by some species, and it was also strongly influenced by the presence of either glycerophosphate or Pi in the medium. There were four patterns of phosphatase activity, depending on the properties of the alkaline phosphatase. Phosphatase activity can be a valuable characteristic for inclusion in tests for the identification of enterobacteria.