Folic Acid in Purified Preparations of Members of the Psittacosis Group of Micro-Organisms

SYNTHESIS OF SERINE BY COXIELLA BURNETII

“…The demonstration of folic acid in rickettsiae (Kleinschmidt, Holmes, and Behrens, 1956;Myers, 1958) and in the psittacosis group (Colon and Moulder, 1958;Colon, 1961) is suggestive of the presence of folic acid-mediated reactions in these organisms. The data presented in this paper support this view, at least for C. burnetii.…”

The Relation of the Psittacosis Group (Chlamydiae) to Bacteria and Viruses

“…The lack of folic acid requirement was not surprising, because this vitamin is a constituent of psittacosis group cells (35), and sulfonamide-susceptible organisms, such as psittacosis 6BC, can synthesize folic acid (33,34). The absence of a ribo flavin requirement may reflect the absence of flavoprotein respiratory en zymes, as demonstrated for the meningopneumonitis agent by the use of a dual wavelength spectrophotometer (127) .…”

Enzymes for Formation of Citrovorum Factor in Members of the Psittacosis Group of Microorganisms,

“…The susceptibility of some members of the psittacosis group to sulfonamides led to the discovery of folic acid as an essential constituent of these organisms (Col6n and Moulder, 1958), a finding which immediately suggested that the psittacosis group might also contain enzymes requiring or synthesizing folic acid coenzymes. This report describes the presence in mouse pneumonitis and meningopneumonitis viruses of enzymes active in the formation of citrovorum factor and other forms of folic acid.…”