INDUCED METABOLIC MUTANTS OF MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS

Considerable work has been devoted to the study of biochemical mutants in bacteria, but no systematic investigation of such variants in the mycobacteria has been reported. The purpose of the present work was to demonstrate that mutants could be produced in this genus by the same methods as in other bacteria and thus to pave the way for an application of these principles to a study of intermediary metabolic patterns, including the mechans of synthesis of the complex fatty acids which are peculiar to this group.