Purification and characterization of thermostable direct hemolysin of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

A thermostable direct hemolysin was purified from culture filtrates of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The purified hemolysin gave one precipitation line with the antihemolysin antiserum on agar-gel diffusion test and a single band on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The hemolysin was not inactivated by heating at 70 to 100 C for 10 min. The hemolytic activity was not enhanced by the addition of lecithin. It was demonstrated that the hemolysin was a protein with a molecular weight of approximately 118,000. Amino acid analysis revealed that 43% of total amino acids were acidic amino acids, whereas 11% were basic amino acids.