Disruption of wall-less bacteria by streptococcal and staphylococcal toxins
- PMID: 5327903
- PMCID: PMC316105
- DOI: 10.1128/jb.91.5.1677-1680.1966
Disruption of wall-less bacteria by streptococcal and staphylococcal toxins
Abstract
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.
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