Looking for growth conditions for Haloarcula marismortui

[Betty Freeborn]

Haloarcula marismortui, which once grew healthily in our lab to an 
optical density of 5.5 at 550 millimicrons, now grows to less than an 
optical density of 1.0 at same wavelength.  The medium we are using is
the Yonath recipe(1985, FEBS Lett. 184, 68-71), per liter 208 g. NaCl, 46 g. 
MgSO4 anhydrous, 0.125g. MnCl2(anhydrous), 10g. yeast extract,pH adjusted 
to 7.2 after sterilization with 0.2M NaOH, and 0.5 g. CaCl2 added, also 
after sterilization.
THe pH does seem to be critical, and more Mn seems to be helpful, but the 
cells still stop growing before O.D. 1.0.  Anybody have any ideas?

--
Betty Freeborn.  Have a delightful day!