PRODUCTION OF RECEPTOR-DESTROYING ENZYME BYVIBRIO COMMAIN SYNTHETIC MEDIUM

Abstract

V. comma grew well in a simple medium containing inorganic salts, glutamic acid, sucrose, adenine, vitamin-free casamino acids, and trishydroxymethylaminomethane, but no receptor-destroying enzyme (RDE) was produced. RDE was measured by the ability of the enzyme to remove influenza virus receptors from chicken erythrocytes. Certain peptones when added to the aforementioned synthetic medium caused the production of RDE by V. comma. Since hydrolysis of a proteose peptone for 24 hours with 6 [image] HC1 gave material which still elicited RDE production by V. comma, various compounds of low-molecular weight were tested for their ability to give enzyme production. Galactosamine hydrochloride (25 mg in 125 ml of synthetic medium) gave an RDE titer of 1:80, which was by far the highest titer given by any of the compounds tested.