Studies of the Nutritional Requirements of Clostridium tetani

The growth requirements of the New York State Laboratories strain of Clostridium tetani were the subject of investigation by Mueller and his co-workers (Mueller and Miller, 1941a, 1942; Feeney et al., 1943a, b). During these studies, a synthetic medium capable of supporting good growth of this strain of C. tetani in primary culture was developed. However, these investigators were interested principally in toxin production and no attempt was made to grow the organism serially in this medium. Furthermore, they stated that it was possible that unknown stimulatory agents and essential substances were present in their medium, since "the natural amino acids, glucose, or the folic acid concentrate may possibly have contained essential impurities." In addition, some growth promoting substances probably were introduced with the inoculum, which was large and composed of oncewashed cells. The present study was initiated with the purpose of further clarifying the nutritional requirements of C. tetani.