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Effect of Lysozyme on Mycobacteria
Author(s) -
Kanetsuna Fuminori
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1980.tb02920.x
Subject(s) - lysozyme , mycobacterium phlei , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , mycobacterium smegmatis , mycobacterium bovis , enzyme , muramidase , mycobacterium , mycobacterium tuberculosis , bacteria , biochemistry , tuberculosis , genetics , pathology , medicine
The effect of lysozyme on the growth of several strains of mycobacteria was examined at pH 5.0–7.0 in Dubos medium containing various concentrations of lysozyme (100–2,000 μg/ml). Mycobacterium smegmatis and M. phlei were susceptible to lysozyme at pH 5.0–7.0. The effect of lysozyme was marked between pH 6.0 and 7.0 and the colony counts were reduced to approximately 0.1–10% after incubation with 100 μg of lysozyme per ml for 48 hr. At pH 5.0, 10–40% of the organisms survived treatment with 1,000 μg of lysozyme per ml for 48 hr. M. bovis strain BCG, M. tuberculosis , and M. fortuitum appeared to be more resistant to lysozyme than M. smegmatis and M. phlei . M. smegmatis and M. phlei did not contain detectable amounts of poly‐L‐glutamic acid, although the susceptibility of the mycobacteria to lysozyme did not correlate with the amounts of the polymer in the cell walls. The role of lysozyme in animal infections with so‐called saprophytic mycobacteria is discussed.