Some myxobacteria and their activities

Abstract

Among the fruiting forms, Myxococcus species were more common in soils. They were also comparatively easy to isolate and cultivate. i 20 : Therefore, it was decided to carry out further work on these species. As mentioned earlier, myxobacteria do not grow in a dispersed state, a factor which leads to difficulties in the biochemical investigations. Just about the time the author's attempts at developing a method to get dispersed growth of myxobacteria were yielding successful results, a communication appeared reporting dispersed growth of Myxococcus species using almost identical methods (27). While there are reports on inhibition of morphogenesis and stimulation of vegetative growth by aromatic amino acids like phenylalanine and tryptophan, there are so far no reports on the catabolism of these amino acids. Studies on the catabolism of phenylalanine by Myxococcus species were therefore undertaken and the observations are reported in Chapter II. Although there are many interesting aspects of myxobacteria remain to be pursued, it is not within the scope of an individual to cover all aspects. The author hopes that her findings reported herein have contributed to some extent to the prevailing knowledge on myxobacteria.