268 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXX, No. 3 
Table I .—The chemistry of decomposition of 1 per cent glycocoll ( glycine) hy 
microorganisms , in the presence and absence of dextrose 
Organism used 
Dex¬ 
trose 
Age 
of 
cul¬ 
ture 
Total N in 
100 c. c. 
NHs-N in 
100 c. c. 
nh 3 -n 
in 100 
c. c. 
Dextrose in 
100 c. c. 
Dry growth 
pH 
Found 
De¬ 
crease 
from 
control 
Found 
De¬ 
crease 
from 
control 
Found 
Util¬ 
ized 
Weight 
Nitro¬ 
gen 
con¬ 
tent 
Per cent 
Days 
Mg. 
Mg. 
Mg. 
Mg. 
Mg. 
Mg. 
Mg. 
Mg. 
Mg. 
Control_ 
None. 
180.3 
178.1 
3.54 
7.1 
Do. 
2 
180.3 
178.1 
3.54 
1,870 
6.5 
Zygorhynchus. 
2 
6 
162.8 
17. 5 
155.4 
22.7 
4.40 
'380 
1,490 
251 
17.63 
6.4 
Do__. 
2 
10 
146.8 
33.5 
129.0 
42.1 
13.42 
0 
1,870 
473 
27.74 
7.2 
Trichoderma... 
None. 
6 
177.0 
3.3 
167.4 
6.2 
7.98 
30 
3.10 
7.8 
Do. 
None. 
12 
175. 0 
5. 3 
148.3 
29.8 
24.28 
50 
3.30 
8.1 
Do_ 
2 
5 
129.7 
50.6 
125.5 
48.6 
1.32 
380 
1,490 
804 
45.56 
6.7 
Do. 
2 
10 
122.8 
57.5 
69.9 
108.2 
42.80 
0 
1,870 
669 
49.03 
7.8 
Actinomyces_ 
None. 
8 
178. 7 
1. 6 
172.0 
4.1 
6.36 
23 
1.4 
7.7 
Do___. 
None. 
15 
167.2 
13.1 
137.0 
41.1 
30.46 
59 
4.0 
8. a 
Do_ 
2 
8 
157.7 
22.6 
135.1 
36.0 
18.84 
1,300 
570 
213 
17.5 
7.0 
Do... 
2 
15 
142.0 
38.3 
108.8 
62.3 
30.62 
1,110 
760 
303 
29.0 
7.4 
Bact. fluores- 
cens *__ 
None. 
9 
174.9 
5.4 
168.0 
10.1 
6.36 
(?) 
(?) 
7.5 
Do_ 
2 
5 
163.1 
17.2 
151.8 
26.3 
2.56 
1,050 
820 
' 99 
10.86 
6.6 
Do.. 
2 
9 
(?) 
137.2 
40.9 
7.00 
340 
1,530 
123 
18.60 
6.4 
• Pellicle only incompletely removed. 
stored away in its own mycelium in 
preference to attacking the amino acid; 
possibly after half of the amino acid has 
been used up (the natural d-form) the 
remaining Z-form is attacked with 
greater difficulty. 
In the case of the two fungi, dex¬ 
trose, as an available carbohydrate, 
had a sparing action upon the decom¬ 
position of the amino acid as well as 
upon the accumulation of the ammonia. 
The amino acid is not decomposed as 
a source of energy and the ammonia 
does not accumulate (at least not in 
appreciable amounts) as long as avail¬ 
able energy, in the form of dextrose, 
is present. Actually a larger amount 
of the amino acid may be decomposed, 
even in the presence of dextrose; but 
all the available nitrogen is reassimi¬ 
lated by the organism, so that there is 
no ammonia left as a waste product. 
The Actinomyces, however, decom¬ 
posed the amino acid and allowed an 
appreciable accumulation of ammonia, 
even in the presence of dextrose. After 
15 days’ incubation, 1,110 mg. of dex¬ 
trose was still left in the medium, while 
over 30 mg. of nitrogen as ammonia 
had already accumulated, owing to the 
fact that actinomycetes readily utilize 
amino acids and proteins as sources of 
carbon or energy; they also prefer these 
as sources of nitrogen to the ammonia, 
which accumulates in the medium, 
even in the presence of dextrose. In 
this case, then, one can not speak of any 
sparing action of carbohydrates over 
proteins, nor can one even justify any 
theory of “fermentation in preference 
to putrefaction,” meaning, of course, 
that microorganisms utilize more 
readily available carbohydrates as 
sources of energy than they do pro¬ 
teins. It does apply at least to the 
particular Actinomyces. 
The bacterium (Bad. fluorescens) 
behaved similarly to the fungi, decom¬ 
posing the amino acid in the presence 
of dextrose only to a limited extent and 
allowing the accumulation of only small 
quantities of ammonia, as long as the 
dextrose lasted in the medium. Un¬ 
fortunately, it was not possible to 
obtain the proper weight of the cells 
for this organism, since it made a 
rather scanty growth in the glycoeoll 
medium free from dextrose. Blancheti- 
ere (2) found that this organism 
transformed 81 per cent of the amino- 
acid nitrogen into ammonia in 55 days, 
in the absence of dextrose. 
The change in reaction depended 
entirely on the substances that were 
being changed. In the absence of 
dextrose the reaction changed, in all 
cases, to more alkaline, due to the forma¬ 
tion of ammonia; in the presence of 
dextrose the reaction either did not 
change or became slightly acid; as 
soon as the dextrose was used up, or, in 
the case of the Actinomyces, with the 
continued decomposition of the glyco- 
coll, even in the presence of dextrose, 
the reaction became alkaline. 
Just how do microorganisms utilize 
an amino acid as a source of energy? 
Nawiasky (18) suggested the following 
group of reactions: 
