The release of alkaline phosphatase and of lipopolysaccharide during the growth of rough and smooth strains of Salmonella typhimurium

Abstract

A rough strain of Salmonella typhimurium, which has a defect in the "inner core" region of its lipopolysaccharide, was shown to release more alkaline phosphatase into the medium during growth than did an isogenic smooth strain of the same organism. The pattern of enzyme release varied during growth in that early logarithmic phase cells retained alkaline phosphatase in their periplasmic space and at their cell surface while cells in later growth phases shed as much as 6% of their content of this enzyme into the medium. The reaction product localization technique used in this study enables us to assess enzyme production and localization in individual cells of a culture. The release of the enzyme was paralleled by a release of lipopolysaccharide from the cells. The released alkaline phosphatase shows a strong tendency to associate with purified phenol-extracted lipopolysaccharide.