AbstractThe production ofL‐glutamic acid from hydrocarbons by a newly isolated bacterium, which was identified asCorynebacterium, was investigated. The outstanding characteristic of this bacterium was found to be an accessory requirement of thiamine for growth. The optimum concentration of thiamine for growth was 50 μg./liter, while that forL‐glutamic acid production was 3–5 μg./liter.n‐Paraffins ranging from dodecane to heptadecane were best forL‐glutamic acid production, and about 5 g. ofL‐glutamic acid were obtained from 30 g. of these individualn‐paraffins. On the other hand, a tracer experiment using oxygen‐18 revealed that molecular oxygen was incorporated intoL‐glutamic acid produced from dodecane. Based on the incorporation value of molecular oxygen inL‐glutamic acid, a hypothetical pathway for the biosynthesis ofL‐glutamic acid from