[Effect of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus nutrition on the R, S, and M dissociants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in mixed cultures].

The effect of glucose, nitrate, and phosphate on the stationary-phase growth characteristics of R, S, and M dissociants of the hydrocarbon-oxidizing strain P. aeruginosa K-2 was studied. The optimal concentrations of glucose and phosphate providing for at least 90% of the maximal culture density were found to be 2-7% glucose and 0.02-0.12% phosphate. The main factor that determined the proportion of dissociants in bacterial populations was the initial concentration of phosphate. The fraction of R dissociant in populations increased linearly with the concentration of glucose and varied nonlinearly with the concentration of phosphate in the growth medium. The fraction of M dissociant depended solely on the concentration of phosphate in a manner inverse to that typical of R dissociant. In glucose-deficient media containing sufficient amounts of phosphorus, S dissociant prevailed over R dissociant.