All strains were grown in the presence of D-glucose
as control and in the presence of D-galactose or lactose
for the induction of the tagatose-6-phosphate
pathway. The occurrence of the key enzymes of the
fructose bisphosphate pathway (fructose-6-phosphate
kinase), the Leloir pathway (galactose-l.phosphate
uridyltransferase and UDPgalactose 4-epimerase) and
of the tagatose-6-phosphate pathway (tagatose-6-
phosphate kinase) was determined and the results are
summarized in Table 1. All organisms exhibited activity
of fructose-6-phosphate kinase. Tagatose-6-phosphate
kinase activity could be found only in strains
of S. aureus, S. epidermidis and S. hominis which
were cultivated in a growth medium supplemented
with D-galactose. They did not possess enzymes of
the Leloir pathway. S. intermedius, S. saprophyticus
and S. xylosus could utilize D-galactose or lactose,