Determination of lipopolysaccharide by a bioluminescence technique.

The determination of the lipid A content of bacterial lipopolysaccharide by using a dim mutant of the luminous bacterium Beneckea harveyi is described. The luminous bacteria emitted light upon the addition of an acid hydrolysate of lipopolysaccharide which contained myristic acid, thus making it possible to detect as little as 1 ng of lipopolysaccharide. By converting the 3-OH-myristic acid to myristic acid, it was possible to further increase the detection sensitivity and to establish a basis for a specific and highly sensitive bioassay for the detection of lipopolysaccharide.