THE INFLUENCE OF NUTRITIONAL FACTORS ON SYNTHESIS OF SALMONELLA TOXIN

The nutritional requirements for the synthesis of a cholera toxin‐like toxin from Salmonella enteritidis serotype braenderup were examined. Toxin levels of both culture filtrates and sonicates were determined by the modified Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) floating cell assay. With few exceptions, most amino acids which contained charged polar R groups were stimulatory for Salmonella toxin synthesis. Glycerol enhanced toxin production to the largest extent; however, glucose was a poor carbon source suggesting that Salmonella toxin elaboration may be subject to catabolite repression. Biotin and Mn⁺⁺ were shown to increase the synthesis as well as release of this toxin. An ideal defined medium, supplemented with all the nutritional factors shown to stimulate toxin synthesis, was formulated. The amount of Salmonella toxin produced in this supplemented medium was about 82% of the total toxin elaborated when cultured in Casamino acids plus yeast extract.