Disruption of wall-less bacteria by streptococcal and staphylococcal toxins.

Bernheimer, Alan W. (New York University School of Medicine, New York, N.Y.). Disruption of wall-less bacteria by streptococcal and staphylococcal toxins. J. Bacteriol. 91:1677-1680. 1966.-Earlier studies demonstrating that staphylococcal alpha-toxin and streptolysin S have the capacity to lyse protoplasts and spheroplasts of certain species of bacteria and Mycoplasma have been extended to encompass additional kinds of wall-less bacteria including L forms. It is suggested that sensitivity to staphylococcal alpha-toxin and streptolysin S may be explicable in terms of specific phospholipid composition of cell membranes, whereas sensitivity to streptolysin O is dependent upon the presence in cell membranes of cholesterol. The results suggest that streptolysin O might prove to be a useful reagent for differentiating L forms from parasitic pleuropneumonia-like organisms.