Abstract
As a follow-up to earlier studies on the emission of long-chain alcohols from broth cultures of Gram-negative enteric bacteria, E. coli was examined for the production of 1-octanol, 1-decanol, and 1-dodecanol. Ten strains of E. coli cultured in tryptic soy broth were assayed for volatile metabolites using solid-phase microextraction. Long-chain alcohols were produced by all strains with 1-decanol predominating with production ranging from 23.6 ng mL−1 to 148 ng mL−1. The production of long-chain alcohols followed the onset of the exponential growth phase of the broth culture. Doubling the concentration of glucose (5 g L−1) in the broth had no effect on the concentration of long-chain alcohols produced. Addition of octanoic, decanoic, or dodecanoic acids (as K+ salts) to the broth (100 mg L−1) markedly increased the production of the corresponding alcohols by E. coli, ranging from a 13-fold increase for decanol to a 51-fold increase for dodecanol. However, decanol remained the predominant alcohol detected in all assays. These neutral volatile alcohols may have application as vapor-phase indicators for certain classes of bacteria, particularly, Gram-negative enteric bacteria.
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We thank Pamela Compton for manuscript preparation, Katherine Akers for technical assistance, and Dr. Joe O’Leary for helpful suggestions regarding the manuscript.
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Hamilton-Kemp, T., Newman, M., Collins, R. et al. Production of the Long-Chain Alcohols Octanol, Decanol, and Dodecanol by Escherichia coli. Curr Microbiol 51, 82–86 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-005-4469-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-005-4469-x