Estimation of Arginine Metabolism in Putrefactive Bacteria Using Liquid Chromatography

Liquid chromatography (LC) using on-column derivatization coupled with a columnswitching technique was developed to study the metabolism of amino acids in bacteria. Simultaneous analysis of 12 kinds of polyamines and their precursor amino acids was performed using this system. Degradation products of amino acids due to Photobacterium phosphoreum, a putrefactive bacterium, was analyzed by the LC method. The arginine (Arg) metabolism in the bacterium was found to be such that Arg was converted to agmatine by the Arg-decarboxylase system, and agmatine was subsequently converted to putrescine by agmatinase. The method was applicable to the determination of Arg, ornithine and lysine decarboxylase activities, Arg-dihydrolase activity and other enzyme activities in putrefactive bacteria.