Comparative biochemical studies on aerobic mutants of Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius cannot grow aerobically and lacks cytochromes and catalase activity. Its aerobic mutants resemble the type strain of Staphylococcus aureus in their ability to synthesize cytochromes but they still lack catalase. Their cytochrome and menaquinone patterns are qualitatively similar to those of S. aureus. However, the aerobic mutants contain only one fourth to one third of the cytochrome and menaquinone concentrations present in S. aureus. The decreased amount of the respiratory chain components may, at least partially, be responsible for the lower growth rate of the aerobic mutants in comparison to that of S. aureus and for the differences in the composition of the end products of aerobic glucose metabolism.