The differential effect of arginine and canavanine on growth and enzyme formation in Staphylococcus aureus 524 SC

Repression ofPseudomonas fluorescensextracellular lipase secretion by arginine

The effect of arginine on the production of extracellular lipase byPseudomonas fluorescens32A was studied. Arginine repressed lipase production when N was supplied partially or totally as arginine. Proteinase production was unaffected under the same conditions. Arginine did not repress lipase secretion when cells were pregrown in an arginine-containing medium; however, repression was found with uninduced cells. Several arginine-analogues were tested for the ability to repress lipase secretion and. of these, L-homoarginine and L-canavanine were the most effective. D-Arginine, L-arginine methyl ester, and L-ornithine did not cause repression. With the exception of glutamic acid and methionine, those amino acids that supplied N but not C for growth were found to repress lipase secretion. It is suggested that the accumulation of metabolic intermediate(s) may cause repression of lipase production.

PURIFICATION OF STAPHYLOCOCCAL BETA-HEMOLYSIN AND ITS ACTION ON STAPHYLOCOCCAL AND STREPTOCOCCAL CELL WALLS

Chesbro, William R. (University of New Hampshire, Durham), Fred P. Heydrick, Roland Martineau, and Gail N. Perkins. Purification of staphylococcal beta-hemolysin and its action on staphylococcal and streptococcal cell walls. J. Bacteriol. 89:378-389. 1965.-After growth of bovine-derived strains of Staphylococcus aureus in a completely dialyzable medium, the beta-hemolysin in the culture supernatant fluids was purified by gradient-elution chromatography on cellulose phosphate. The purified hemolysin contained two components, demonstrable by immunodiffusion or electrophoresis, but was free from alpha-hemolysin, coagulase, Delta-hemolysin, enterotoxins A and B, glucuronidase, hyaluronidase, lipase, muramidase, Panton-Valentine leukocidin, phosphatase, and protease. The hemolysin was heat-labile and sulfhydryl-dependent, and the preparation was leukocidal for guinea pig macrophages. When rabbit red blood cell (RBC) stroma and staphylococcal or enterococcal cell walls were treated with the purified hemolysin, it liberated mucopolysaccharides from the rabbit RBC stroma, polysaccharides and mucopolysaccharides (or mucopeptides) from the staphyloccoal cell walls, and rhamnose, glucose, an unidentified monosaccharide, N-acetylglucosamine, and at least two polysaccharides from the enterococcal cell walls. The hemolytic and cell-wall degradative activities had similar thermal inactivation kinetics, pH optima, sedimentation coefficients, and chromatographic and electrophoretic mobilities; both required Mg and were inhibited by thiol-inactivating agents. Consequently, it seems likely that both activities are expressions of the same enzyme.

Studies on the Growth Effects of the Canaline-Urea Cycle Amino Acids with Lemna minor L

The aquatic microphyte, Lemna minor L., was utilized to assess the relative toxicity and general growth effects of canavanine, canaline, ureidohomoserine (UHS), and canavaninosuccinate (CSA). These amino acids are constituents of the canaline-urea cycle and structural analogues of the ornithine-urea cycle amino acids.Comparative growth studies with L. minor revealed that the canaline-urea cycle amino acids are potent antimetabolites. With the exception of CSA, they are extremely toxic at a concentration of 5 mum. Over a concentration range of 1 to 4 mum, canavanine is the most growth-inhibiting of the canaline-urea cycle amino acids. At or above 5 mum, canavanine and canaline possess comparable toxicity. UHS is less growth-inhibiting than canavanine or canaline, and CSA is the least toxic of the canaline-urea cycle intermediates.

Production and purification of a Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteriocin

Liquid cultures of Staphylococcus epidermidis 1580 contained rather small amounts of a bacteriocin, staphylococcin 1580, which was found both in the supernatant fluid and in the cell pellet. It could be extracted from the cells with 5% NaCl solution. The staphylococcin production could not be induced by ultraviolet irradiation or treatment with mitomycin C. Bacteria grown on semisolid medium produced a much larger amount of the compound with a high specific activity. The staphylococcin was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, ultracentrifugation, and chromatography on Sephadex columns. The purified material was homogeneous on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight was between 150,000 and 400,000. The bacteriocin was composed of protein, carbohydrate, and lipid and consisted of subunits exhibiting a molecular weight of about 20,000.

Induced structural defects in T-even bacteriophage

Multiple aberrant substructures of T-even bacteriophage particles occurred when amino acid analogues or antimetabolites were present during phage growth. Certain aberrant substructures were induced by specific analogues or antimetabolites. In particular, it was observed by electron microscopy that l-canavanine, an arginine analogue, gave rise to polyheads; l-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid, a proline analogue, gave rise to polytail tubes; and 1,2,4-trizaole-3-alanine, a histidine analogue, proflavine, and actinomycin D all gave rise to small heads. These aberrant substructures were similar to those reported earlier with conditional lethal mutants (amber) of T4D in a restrictive host.