Comparative studies on the cell wall composition of some anaerobic coryneforms of varying lympho-reticular stimulatory activity.

Anaerobic diphtheroids possessing lympho-reticular stimulatory properties may differ considerably in their peptidoglycan composition. Spleen weight-increasing activity of strains directly parallels their antitumour properties. P. granulosum strains, inactive in assays for lympho-reticular stimulation, appear to have a higher cell wall alanine content than most of the P. acnes and P. avidum strains tested. Two P. acnes strains, however, had equivalently high alanine ratios and were stimulatory. The presence of galactose does not appear to be required for activity since P. acnes II strains which lack this sugar can be fully stimulatory. The existence of the species P. lymphophilum (Torrey) is further supported by the finding of two more serologically identical strains which do not cross react serologically with the other species in the group. These organisms are fully stimulatory but have lysine rather than DAP as their cell wall diamino acid.