Separation of type 2 toxins of Vibrio cholerae.

Choleragenic toxin was separated from vascular permeability factor by ion-exchange chromatography of supernatants of dialyzed peptone cultures of Vibrio cholerae. The choleragenic toxin eluted from columns of QAE-Sephadex with low-ionicity systems is free of permeability factor activity. Further elution of these columns with 0.5M NaCl removes both the permeability factor and residual choleragenic toxin. When this latter material is chromatographed on columns of carboxymethyl-Sephadex, the permeability factor toxin is eluted by 0.02M phosphate buffer and is free of choleragenic activity. Therefore, choleragenic and permeability factor activities of the type 2 cholera toxins are different and can be separated by these procedures.