BIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON MYCOBACTERIUM ULCERANS (MACCALLUM)

II. ON CATALASE ACTIVITY

Abstract

Finlayson⁽⁷⁾ showed that the catalase activity was associated with the resting cells of mycobacteria, and that the enzymatic activity varied widely from species to species.
The experiments recorded in this paper have shown that the strains of M. ulcerans and M. muris develop the catalase activity more highly than in the case of M. tuberculosis, such as strains of H37Rv and BCG, and A-71 strain of M. avium, but less than the strain of M. phlei.
Those findings obtained from the cells grown on the solid medium and in the liquid medium were essentially similar.
As stated above, the catalase activity seems to indicate an existence of certain difference in metabolism between M. ulcerans and the other mycobacteria tested.