0023-6152

AA00697606

23718

Unrefereed

0023-6152

AA00697606

Growing cells of Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum Nl-4 (ATCC 13564) were rapidly autolyzed in the presence of 0.3 to 0.5M sucrose. This autolysis was apparently induced by the treatment with sucrose, and termed “sucrose-induced autolysis.” The maximum effect was shown at 0.35M sucrose, exhibiting about 50% loss of initial turbidity of the cell suspension. The rate of lysis depended on the age of culture. The most rapid lysis occurred in the cells of early-exponentially growing culture, hut no lysis was observed on those of late-exponential and stationary phase cultures. The optimal pH was 6.0. and the optimal temperature 30℃. Lysis occurred either in the cultural medium or buffer solution (for example: sodium phosphate buffer). The lysis was accompanied by striking morphological conversion from original rod cells (3 -6x0.4 -0.6 nrn) to spherical cells (1.0- 1.5 μm in diameter). The same rapid autolysis was also observed on the relative strains of C. succhuroperbutylacetonicum and C. sporogenes. Cells of C. butyricum. C. kaneboi and C. botulinurn were slightly autolyzed (10 - 15 % loss of initial turbidity). However, no lysis occurred on the aerobes of several different genus and on the cells of some other species of genus Clostridium tested. The bacterial spheres developed during the lysis may be the protoplasts.