Antimicrobial spectrum, production and mode of action of staphylococcin 188 produced by Staphylococcus aureus 188.

Staphylococcus aureus 188 has been shown to produce bacteriocin-like inhibitory substance known as staphylococcin 188. It has a broad-activity spectrum against Micrococcus luteus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus faecalis, Streptococcus viridans, Corynebacterium diphtheriae and several staphylococcus species. The arbitrary unit of staphylococcin 188 against Micrococcus luteus was 1280 AU/mL. Its production with simultaneous measurement of activity was monitored and was found to produce maximum amount of staphylococcin after 7 hours of incubation. Mode of action of the staphylococcin 188 on the sensitive cells was bactericidal rather than bacterioloytic.