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Nature of the Factor in Soil-extract Responsible for Bacterial Growth-stimulation

Abstract

SOIL-EXTRACT is a valuable constituent of media for the growth of many soil bacteria. A medium containing only agar and aqueous soil-extract will give much higher plate counts from soil than any other medium in common use. Lochhead and Chase1 showed that one-third of the bacterial cultures isolated from soil in soil-extract agar were unable to grow in a liquid medium containing a wide selection of amino-acids and vitamins, unless soil-extract was also added. They tentatively concluded that several different growth-promoting substances were involved. Some work on the nature of the soil-extract effect is briefly summarized here.

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References

  1. Lochhead, A. G., and Chase, F. E., Soil Sci., 55, 185 (1943).

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  2. Proom, H., and Woiwod, A. J., J. Gen. Microbiol., 8, 319 (1949).

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TAYLOR, C. Nature of the Factor in Soil-extract Responsible for Bacterial Growth-stimulation. Nature 168, 115–116 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1038/168115a0

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