PHYSIOLOGY OF TOXIN PRODUCTION BYCLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUMTYPES A AND B I

Abstract

Autolysis was shown to be an important mechanism for the liberation of toxin by C. botulinum types A and B. This conclusion was based upon the observations that the toxicity of culture filtrates was not correlated with the number of intact organisms but with the degree of autolysis of the cultures, and secondly, that artificial disruption of cells at the end of the exponential growth phase resulted in the liberation of large quantities of intracellular toxin. The inability to obtain nontoxic wash fluids and the low level of toxicity observed in young culture filtrates were attributed to simple diffusion of the toxin through the intact cell.