The minimal nutritional requirements of organisms of the genus Bordetella

SUMMARY: Eight strains of bronchiseptica, six strains of parapertussis and fifteen strains of pertussis were examined for their minimal nutritional requirements in defined media. All strains showed an absolute requirement for nicotinic acid and no other vitamin was required for growth. Amino acids were essential for parapertussis and pertussis, but bronchiseptica would grow in either a mixture of amino acids, or lactate or citrate. Two old laboratory strains were exceptional in that they could utilize either glutamic acid, a-ketoglutaric acid, citrate, lactate, succinate or pyru-vate. The amino acid requirements of the three species were relatively simple and showed some similarities. Bronchiseptica would grow in a mixture of glutamic acid, proline and leucine, while parapertussis required added cystine and methionine, and pertussis required in addition alanine, asparagine and serine. In simple amino acid mixtures glutamic acid was essential, but was replaceable by a-ketoglutaric acid. Nutritionally the species are very similar, but are quite different from the Haemophilus injiuenxae-parainjluenxae-canis, or the Brucella abortus-suis-melitensis groups of organisms. The nutritional evidence supports the already impressive evidence o