Metabolic inhibition of Peptostreptococcus anaerobius decreases the bactericidal effect of hydrogen peroxide

Peptostreptococcus anaerobius VPI 4330-1 was tested under various conditions for examination of the bactericidal effect of hydrogen peroxide. The cells were most rapidly killed by hydrogen peroxide when they were in the exponential-growth phase. Cooling or starving the cells decreased the bactericidal effect of hydrogen peroxide. The ionophore nigericin and the metal ion chelating agent 2,2'-bipyridine stopped macromolecular syntheses and greatly decreased the bactericidal effect of hydrogen peroxide. The ionophore valinomycin and the glycolytic inhibitor iodoacetate also stopped the syntheses of the macromolecules but only slightly decreased the bactericidal effect of hydrogen peroxide. Novobiocin, an inhibitor of deoxyribonucleic acid gyrase, and chloramphenicol, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, were not able to decrease the bactericidal effect of hydrogen peroxide. These findings implicate metal ions and an active metabolism of the organism in the bactericidal effect of hydrogen peroxide.