BACTERIAL LYSIS OF CLOSTRIDIUM SPECIES

I. LYSIS OF CLOSTRIDIUM SPECIES BY UNIVALENT CATION

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The growing cells of Clostridium species were lysed by the addition of univalent cations such as Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, Cs⁺, Li⁺, and NH₄⁺ In various kinds of bacteria tested, strains of Cl. Saccharoperbutylacetonicum were the most sensitive to Na⁺ The lysis occurred at about 5min after addition of Na⁺, and completed at 20min or more. Most rapid lysis took place when the cells were during or toward the middle of the exponential phase of growth and when 0.3M Na⁺ was used.
The presence of a low concentration of chelating agents such as EDTA and sodium citrate removed the 5-min lag period, and enhanced the rate of lysis. On the other hand, bivalent cations such as Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ba²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Zn²⁺ protected the cells from the lysing action of Na⁺.
In addition, these phenomena could be applied for the isolation of bacterial DNA and for the estimation of intracellular development of bacteriocin, since Cl. Saccharoperbutylacetonicum was not lysed by lysozyme and was considerably resistant to chloroform.