Serology of Strains of Streptococcus faecalis which produce Hyaluronidase

Abstract

Sharpe and Shattock¹ have indicated that the serological properties of enterococci could not be closely correlated with those physiological characteristics which are usually used to differentiate between the several species. They suggested, however, that there were two broad divisions within the enterococci in each of which the serological properties tended to correlate with the general physiological activities; one of these divisions consisted of Streptococcus faecalis and its varieties. Our investigations of strains of Str. faecalis isolated from scrapings from the teeth of humans with periodontal disease² suggest that those strains which can depolymerize hyaluronic acid substrates by means of enzymes are directly related and distinguishable by a common antigen.