[Enzymatic lysis of staphylococcal cells and isolation of cell walls].

Procedures for lyzing staphylococcal cells with the use of ultrasound, lysozyme and a lytic enzyme complex of Actinomyces recifensis var. lyticus, 2435 were compared. The lysis level was estimated by two parameters: lower optical density and protein yield percentage. It was found that ultrasound provided rather high levels of cell destruction reaching 60-68 per cent. The use of lysozyme enabled to destroy 16 per cent of the cells. The enzyme complex of strain 2435 showed high lytic activity with respect to the tested culture. For destroying dense staphylococcal suspensions it appeared necessary to study the effect of preliminary treatment of the cells with various chemical substances on their liability to the effect of the enzyme complex. It was demonstrated that treatment of the cells with 0.01-0.1 M cystein HCl solutions, 0.01-0.02 M sodium dodecylsulfate solutions or 0.05-0.5 M sodium hydroxide solutions increased 2.6-4.7-fold the cell liability to enzymatic hydrolysis. The studies enabled to develop conditions providing complete lysis of 10-percent staphylococcal cell suspension within 5 to 15 minutes under the effect of the lytic enzyme complex of strain 2435. A procedure for isolating cell walls was developed.