Lytic effect of Bacillus subtilis elastase on gram-positive and negative bacteria.

Elastase of B. subtilis 6a caused lysis of freshly grown cells of Gram-negative (Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-positive (B. subtilis) bacteria. Heat killed and lyophilised Gram-positive and negative bacteria showed higher sensitivity to elastase. Both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria were lysed maximally by elastase at pH 8.0. At this pH, activity of elastase was maximum in Tris-HCl and glycine-NaOH buffers followed by Tris-maleate and cacodylate buffers.