L-form-like colonies of Staphylococcus aureus induced by an extracellular lytic enzyme from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

An extracellular enzyme produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa had a lytic effect on lyophilized Staphylococcus aureus cells. It was purified from the culture supernatant by ammonium sulfate fractionation followed by column chromatography with P cellulose and Sephadex G-50. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 19,000 +/- 1,750 with sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The pI of the enzyme was estimated to be 8.5 with isoelectric focusing. The enzyme was inactive in 4% NaC1-40 mM sodium phosphate buffer or at pH values lower than 6.0 or higher than 11.0; however, it was not affected by 1 M sucrose or 0.25% heat-denatured horse serum. The action of the enzyme on cultures of S. aureus resulted in the presence of many cells lacking cell walls. In addition, when cultivation was carried out on osmotically stabilized solid media, these cell wall-deficient cell developed in L-form colonies.