Lysis of Bacterial Cell Walls by an Enzyme Isolated from a Myxobacter

Abstract

An exoenzyme which lyses intact cells, heat-killed cells, and cell walls of Arthrobacter crystallopoletes was purified 60-fold from the growth liquor obtained from a myxobacter (strain AL-1). The lytic enzyme was produced during growth of the organism in a number of complex media, the maximal amount of enzyme being produced in yeast extract broth. The purified enzyme lysed at different rates a number of gram-positive bacteria. With the exception of Rhodo-spirillum rubrum, Spirillum itersonii, and S. serpens, the gram-negative bacteria tested were not attacked.