A mutant of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides lacking the H2O2- producing enzyme L-alpha-glycerophosphate oxidase.

Cells of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides grown without stirring or aeration in batch culture, and resuspended in a salts solution, oxidised a range of carbohydrates including glycerol. The rate of glycerol oxidation was not reduced when cells were passaged more than 20 times in batch culture. However, in cells grown in stirred and aerated chemostat culture for 100 generations the ability to oxidise glycerol, but not other carbohydrates, was lost or greatly reduced. A mutant strain isolated from chemostat even after several passages in batch culture. The growth rate and growth-yield of the mutant strain in batch culture were similar to those of the parent strain. The mutant possessed activity for glycerol kinase but had lost that for the hydrogen peroxide-producing enzyme, L-alpha-glycerophosphate oxidase. The selection pressure in favour of the mutant strain in chemostat culture may be a decreased production of hydrogen peroxide.