5C 
THE CHEMISTRY OF BACTERIA 
B. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BACTERIA. 
1. Elementary Composition.— Bacteria normally contain the same 
elements in their substance that the higher plants and animals contain, 
viz., carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen and phosphorus, together 
with smaller amounts of sodium, chlorine, sulphur, potassium, calcium, 
magnesium and traces of iron. 
2. Chemical Constitution.— The elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen 
and oxygen, and to a certain extent phosphorus, and perhaps sulphur 
are united to form proteins, nucleoproteins, carbohydrates and fats. 
The inorganic substance of bacteria is made up of the other elements 
mentioned above in variable proportions. Of these elements, carbon, 
hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus are the most important.^ 
TABLES ILLUSTRATING THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF 
BACTERIA. 
2. Percentage of the Elements in Ash-free "Mycoprotein."- 
Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, 
per cent. 
52.1-52. 
per cent. 
7.3-7.38 
per cent. 
14.5-14.9 
2. Percentage Composition with Respect to Organic and Inorganic Constituents. 
Water 
Protein 
Extractive 
Ash . . 
Putrefactive 
bacteria.' 
. 83 . 42 
. 13.96 
1.00 
0.78 
Residue 0.84 
Bacillus 
prodigiosus < 
85 .45 
10.33 
0.70 
1.75 
1.77 
Tubercle 
bacilli.* 
85.00 
8.50 
4.00 
1.40 
1.10 
COMPOSITION OF BACTERIA.' 
In per cent dry residue. 
Glanders 
Chicken cholera 
Cholera 
Dysentery (Shiga) 
Proteus vulgaris 
Typhoid . . 
Anthrax^ . . . 
Pseudotuberculosis 
B. pneumoniae 
B. coli . . . 
B. prodigiosus 
B. psittacosis . 
B. diphtheria . 
B. pyocyaneus 
Water, 
per cent. 
76.5 
79.3 
73.4 
78.2 
80.0 
78.9 
81.7 
78.8 
85.5 
73.3 
78.0 
78.0 
84.5 
75.0 
Nitrogen. 
10.5 
10.8 
10.7 
8.3 
9.2 
10.4 
10.4 
8.3 
10.5 
9.5 
.8 
Acetone 
extract. 
11.7 
7.5 
8.7 
12.8 
10.9 
15.4 
6.3 
15.6 
15.4 
15.2 
9.0 
11.1 
7.0 
15.8 
CHC13 
extract. 
8.6 
6.3 
6.8 
10.6 
7.1 
10.6 
1.5 
10.3 
10.3 
11.8 
6.6 
7.0 
5.2 
10.7 
Phosphorus, 
per cent 
in fat. 8 
2 5 
2.4 
2.4 
1.6 
1.6 
1.2 
0.9 
0.8 
0.8 
0.8 
0.5 
0.5 
0.2 
0.2 
> Certain acid-fast bacteria can be grown in media containing theoretically but five 
elements: Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus. Lowestein: Centralbl. 
f. Bakteriol., orig., 1913, 68, 591. Wherry: Ibid., 1913, 70, 115. Kendall, Day and 
Walker: Jour. Infec. Dis., 1914, 15, 428. 
2 Kruse: Allgemein. Microbiol., p. 62. 
3 Nencki: Ueber die chemische Zusammensetzung der Faulnisbakterien, Beitr. z. 
Biol. d. Spaltpiize, Leipzig, 1880. Nencki und Schilffer: Jour. f. prakt. Chemie, N. F., 
1879, 20, 443. 
* Kappes: Analyze d. Massen Kulturen einiger Spaltpiize u. d. Soorhefe, Leipzig, 
Diss., 1891. 
s Ruppel: Ztschr. f. physiol. Chemie, 1898-1899, 26, 218. 
« Nicolle and Alilaire: Ann. I'lnst. Pasteur, 1909, 23, 547. 
' From acetone extract. * From CHCI3 extract. ' Sporeless. 
