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Upon amending fresh seawater samples with toluene, metabolism began immediately; autoradiography indicated that a minimum of about 7 % of the bacteria were responsible. Rate of toluene metabolism increased with time, maximal rate of increase occurring about 48 h following exposure. There was no concomitant increase in bacterial populations and, consistent with observations of marine isolates in predator-free systems, the increase in rate was interpreted as induction. Induction followed saturation kinetics as might be expected if the rate of inducer penetration also followed saturation kinetics; Kind observed was the very small value of 1.9 yg 1-l, but was consistent with Michaelis constants for toluene transport observed in other studies.

No abstract