In article <Pine.3.07.9407140946.B19882-9100000 at bach>,
ayakawa at SEATTLEU.EDU ("Gregg Y. Ayakawa") wrote:
>>> On 13 Jul 1994, Brent Pollock wrote:
>> > Does anyone know what compund (or combination of compounds) gives E. coli
> > it's characteristic smell?
>> If I'm not mistaken, indole, produced from the breakdown of tryptophan, is
> at least partially responsible.
>> Gregg
............................................................................
Brent and Gregg,
We've done a lot of work on indole production in all kinds of
water and sewage isolates of E.coli, and there doesn't seem to be any
clear-cut relationship between indole levels and smell. Of course we may
have deadened our own noses to indole by now.
Relatives of E.coli, the Klebsiellas and Enterobacters, often
have a kind of fruity smell. I've always assumed that it had something to
do with the butanediol pathway...diacetyl, acetoin, etc. Does anyone
know?
George
