Morphological, physiological, and biochemical properties of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa dissociation variants

Populations of the hydrocarbon-oxidizing strain K-2 of Pseudomonas aeruginosa dissociate into R, S, and M variants. They differ in colony morphology, cell fine structure, and cell yields on synthetic medium with hexadecane and on nutrient broth mixed with wort (NB+W). The best growth on NB+W was shown by the R variant, while the highest cell yield on hexadecane medium (exceeding that of the original culture) was attained by the S variant.