104 CHEMISTRY OF BACTERIA AND THEIR PRODUCTS 



linin (Rozicka).^^ The predominance of nuelein compounds is shown 

 by Ruppel's summary of the composition of dried tubercle baciUi, 

 namely, in per cent.,tuberculonucleic acid, 8.5; nucleo-protamine, 24.5; 

 nucleo-protein, 26.5; fatty matter, 26.5; inorganic, 9.2; insoluble 

 "proteinoid" residue, 8.3. In a water bacillus Nishimura found 

 xanthine, guanine, and adenine, indicating the presence of nucleo- 

 protein; others have found that bacterial nucleoproteins split off 

 pentoses, as do the nucleoproteins of higher cells. If it is true that 

 bacterial nucleo-proteins contain pentose it ranks them with the plant 

 nucleo-proteins, for animal nucleic acids contain hexose. On the other 

 hand, Levene found in bacterial nucleic acid the pyrimidines, thj-mine 

 and uracil, which are respectively characteristic of animal and vege- 

 table nucleic acids. Mary Leach^^ found evidence that the colon 

 bacillus is largely made up of nuelein or glyco-nucleoproteins, but 

 contains no cellulose. Other proteins, namely, globulins and nucleo- 

 albumins, have also been described as constituents of the bacterial 

 plasma. 



The^complete amino-acid content of bacterial protein does not seem 

 to have been worked out, although the workers in Vaughan's labora- 

 tory have identified many of the usual amino-acids of proteins among 

 the products of hydrolysis of bacteria. ^^ Analysis of B. mesentericus 

 shows it to be deficient in diamino-acids, tyrosine, glycine, and to 

 contain 16.6 per cent, of glutamic acid." Tamura^^ found phenyl- 

 alanine and valine high in tubercle bacilli and very low in B. diph- 

 therice, in which tyrosine is more abundant. In an azobacterium, 

 lysine has been found especially abundant.'^ Cystine has been 

 lacking in several analyses. Tamura^° also found that bacteria can 

 synthesize from simple nonprotein media the purines, phosphatids and 

 the typical proteins containing the aromatic amino-acids. This syn- 

 thetic activity of bacteria, in view of the large quantity of bacterial 

 substances in feces, may possibly be of importance in metabolism 

 studies, leading to erroneous conclusions as to utilization or sjmthesis 

 of proteins by the subject.^' In common with other forms of cellular 

 life, bacteria require certain specific substances, "vitamins," to permit 

 of their growth ;22 also they produce substances with the value of 

 vitamins.-^ 



1^ Arch. Entwicklungsmk., 1906 (21), 306. 



/^ Jour. Biol. Chem., 1906 (1), 463. Full bibliography on Chemistry of Bac- 

 teria. See also Vaughan, "Protein Split Products in Relation to Immunity and 

 Disease," Philadelphia, 1913. 



'« See Wheeler Jour. Biol. Chem., 1909 (6), 509. 



'^ Horowitz- Wiassowa, Arch. Sci. Biologique, 1910 (15), 40. 



'8 Zeit. phvsiol. Chem., 1913 (87), 85; 1914 (89), 289. 



19 Omelian.sky and Sieber, Zeit. physiol. Chem., 1913 (88), 445. 



20 Zeit. physiol. Chem., 1913 (88), 190. 



2' Osborne and Mendel, Jour. Biol. Chem., 1913 (18), 177. 

 "See Davis, Jour. Infect. Dis., 1917 (21), 392; Kligler, Jour. Exp. Med., 1919 

 (30), 31. 



" Pacini and Russell, Jour. Biol. Chem., 1918 (34), 43. 



