Unlike other lactic acid bacteria, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis NCDO 2118 was able to grow in a medium lacking glutamate and the amino acids of the glutamate family. Growth in such a medium proceeded after a lag phase of about 2 days and with a reduced growth rate (0.11 h-1) compared to that in the reference medium containing glutamate (0.16 h-1). The enzymatic studies showed that a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity was present, while the malic enzyme and the enzymes of the glyoxylic shunt were not detected. As in most anaerobic bacteria, no alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activity could be detected, and the citric acid cycle was restricted to a reductive pathway leading to succinate formation and an oxidative branch enabling the synthesis of alpha-ketoglutarate. The metabolic bottleneck responsible for the limited growth rate was located in this latter pathway. As regards the synthesis of glutamate from alpha-ketoglutarate, no glutamate dehydrogenase was detected. While the glutamate synthase-glutamine synthetase system was detected at a low level, high transaminase activity was measured. The conversion of alpha-ketoglutarate to glutamate by the transaminase, the reverse of the normal physiological direction, operated with different amino acids as nitrogen donor. All of the enzymes assayed were shown to be constitutive.