The Influence of Nicotinic Acid on Glucose Fermentation by Members of the Colon-Typhoid Group of Bacteria.

Knowledge concerning the enzymic systems of various pathogenic bacteria and their dependence on specific vitamins or accessory substances is still rather vague. The work of Davis (1917), Thj6tta and Avery (1921), and Fildes (1921) has demonstrated that Hemophilus influenzae requires two substances for its growth: x, a heat-stable substance, probably hematin, and v, a heat-labile substance. Kligler (1919) showed, in an extended study on the growth requirements of certain pathogenic bacteria (Corynebacterium diphtheriae, meningococcus, etc.), that minute quantities of tissue extractives, or extracts of nasal mucous secretion are either essential for growth or have a stimulating effect. More recently Knight (1937) has shown that nicotinic acid was essential for the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, and