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Appl Environ Microbiol, April 1998, p. 1344-1349, Vol. 64, No. 4
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Buffering Capacity and Membrane H⁺ Conductance of Neutrophilic and Alkalophilic Gram-Positive Bacteria

Núria Rius and José G. Lorén^*

Departament de Microbiologia i Parasitologia Sanitàries, Divisió de Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Received 18 June 1997/Accepted 21 January 1998

Buffering capacity and membrane H⁺ conductance were examined in three gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus alcalophilus. An acid pulse technique was used to measure both parameters. The buffering capacity and membrane H⁺ conductance of B. alcalophilus are influenced by the pH of the medium and the culture conditions. Suspensions of B. alcalophilus cells from both H. A. medium and L-malate medium cultures grown at pH 10.5 exhibited higher values for these parameters than cells grown at pH 8.5. B. alcalophilus grown aerobically had a lower buffering capacity and a lower membrane conductance for protons than the neutrophilic bacteria S. aureus and B. subtilis. Fermenting cells exhibited significantly higher values for both variables than respiring cells.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratori de Microbiologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Avda. Joan XXIII s/n., 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Phone: 34-3-402 4497. Fax: 34-3-402 1886. E-mail: loren{at}farmacia.far.ub.es.

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