Release of Compounds containing Diaminopimelic Acid from Vibrio metchnikovi treated with Antibody and Complement

Abstract

THERE is now much evidence supporting the suggestion that it is the peptide-amino sugar complex of the walls of Gram-negative bacteria which is responsible for the rigidity of the surface ‘envelope’¹. Loss of these components from the cell, either by direct enzymic digestion as with lysozyme, or by the metabolic disturbances brought about by penicillin action or diaminopimelic acid deprivation, results in a weakening of the wall and a transformation to spherical cells¹. We have been interested in the possible similarity between the events responsible for immune bacteriolysis and those leading to the formation of spherical cells during lysozyme treatment and penicillin action.