Abstract
Summary
Endogenous oxygen consumption of Serratia marcescens, grown on a medium containing glucose at pH 4 and 7 or gluconate at pH 6, continues unchanged during oxidation of glucose and several other substrates. Correcting total oxygen consumption in the presence of a substrate for the endogenous oxygen consumption, affords an accurate representation of the course of oxidation of the substrates. S. marcescens grown in gluconate-containing medium at pH 4 has a higher endogenous oxygen consumption than cells grown on the other media. At one stage of the endogenous metabolism a sharp increase in rate of oxygen consumption occurs. Such sharp increase in oxygen consumption does not occur during oxidation of glucose and several other substrates. Hence correction of total oxygen consumption in the presence of the substrates for endogenous respiration of the cells may lead to an erroneous interpretation of the data.
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