Staphylococcal lipase: intracellular enzyme production.

It is well known that staphylococci produce extracellular lipase which has been isolated, purified and characterized. Existence of intracellular lipase has not been yet established. In this investigation, cellular content liberated by lysostaphin digestion of cell wall revealed presence of lipolytic activity. This has been observed with living staphylococcal cells only. Presence of intracellular lipase was not observed in young bacterial cells, and the enzyme was appearing rapidly in the late phase of the culture. Highest level of enzyme was observed on the 3rd day of culture in described conditions. Accumulation of lipase inside cells followed by its liberation was not observed.