Pesticins. II. Production of pesticin I and II

Abstract

Brubaker, Robert R. (Fort Detrick, Frederick, Md.) and Michael J. Surgalla. Pesticins. II. Production of pesticin I and II. J. Bacteriol. 84:539-545. 1962.-Pesticin I was separated from pesticin I inhibitor by ion-exchange chromatography of cell-free culture supernatant fluids and by acid precipitation of soluble preparations obtained from mechanically disrupted cells. The latter procedure resulted in formation of an insoluble pesticin I complex which, upon removal by centrifugation and subsequent dissolution in neutral buffer, exhibited a 100- to 1,000-fold increase in antibacterial activity over that originally observed. However, activity returned to the former level upon addition of the acid-soluble fraction, which contained pesticin I inhibitor. Since the presence of pesticin I inhibitor leads to serious errors in the determination of pesticin I, an assay medium containing ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid in excess Ca(++) was developed; this medium eliminated the effect of the inhibitor. By use of the above medium, sufficient pesticin I was found to be contained within 500 nonirradiated cells to inhibit growth of a suitable indicator strain; at least 10(7) cells were required to effect a corresponding inhibition by pesticin II. Although both pesticins are located primarily within the cell during growth, pesticin I may arise extracellularly during storage of static cells. Slightly higher activity of pesticin I inhibitor was found in culture supernatant fluids than occurred in corresponding cell extracts of equal volume. The differences and similarities between pesticin I and some known bacteriocins are discussed.