Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase and Its Deficiency in Mutants of Corynebacterium glutamicum

Corynebacterium glutamicum is a member of a group of taxonomically related glutamate-excreting bacteria which utilize glucose both by the Embden-Meyerhof and the pentose phosphate pathways, the latter sequence accounting for 10 to 38% of the glucose metabolized. Some of the properties of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in crude extracts of C. glutamicum were studied. The enzyme was rapidly inactivated by dilution in tris (hydroxymethyl)aminomethane-hydrochloride buffer. This inactivation was prevented by the presence of 0.45 m NaCl. Mg(++) was required for enzyme activity, but Mn(++), Ca(++), Sr(++), and Ba(++) were equally effective. Growth of the organism under differing conditions did not markedly affect the specific activity of the enzyme. A generally applicable method for detecting colonies deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was developed. Mutants so obtained were found to be auxotrophic for tryptophan. Upon reversion of the tryptophan requirement, the revertants still retained the property of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. Neither the mutants nor the revertants could grow as rapidly as the parent culture in glucose, in gluconate, or in a complex medium.