Open AccessInhibitory effect of l ‐pyroglutamate on extremophiles: correlation with growth temperature and pH
Author(s) -
Park Chan Beum,
Ryu Dewey D.Y,
Lee Sun Bok
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1016/s0378-1097(03)00213-1
Subject(s) - microorganism , thermophile , bacteria , archaea , chemistry , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , biochemistry , bacterial growth , growth inhibition , biotope , growth rate , biology , biophysics , food science , enzyme , cell growth , ecology , genetics , neuroscience , habitat , geometry , mathematics
l ‐Pyroglutamate (PGA) is naturally occurring from l ‐glutamate solution with accelerated formation rate under high temperature and low pH. Even though PGA has been identified as a neurotoxic agent on brain cells, the effect of PGA on the growth of microorganisms is rarely known. Here various kinds of microorganisms differing in their optimal growth temperature, pH, phylogeny, and isolated biotope were investigated for the effect of PGA. We found that growth of thermoacidophiles, including both archaea and bacteria, was seriously inhibited by the presence of PGA, and the extent of the inhibitory effect was closely related with growth temperature and pH. Interestingly, only microbes that grow at high temperature and low pH are inhibited by PGA, while this compound may stimulate growth rates of organisms that live at neutral pH and low temperature.