Abstract
The destruction of the group A substance in horse saliva by the Myxobacterium of Morgan and Thaysen 1 was recently reported 2 as evidence for its carbohydrate nature. Through the courtesy of Drs. Wadsworth and Sickles, we have made similar tests with another of the microorganisms having the property of decomposing bacterial polysaccharides, an organism isolated from soil by Sickles and Shaw and designated Saccharobacterium ovale. 3 The results support the previous findings.
The test substances were added to the synthetic fluid medium “S” described by Sickles and Shaw 3 and the organism was cultivated at 32°C. for 2 to 7 days. In the case of pepsin (Fairchild, 1:15,000), a solution was boiled and coagulated protein removed before addition to the basic medium.
The organism was found to destroy the group A substances of horse saliva, human saliva and also that present in commercial pepsin. 4 The A substance in the pepsin was not utilized by the Myxobacterium of Morgan and Thaysen, and in general the microorganism of Sickles and Shaw was the more active. In cultures 2 days old there remained less than 1% of the original serological activity of an 0.08% pepsin solution.
The activity of the solutions was determined in the manner previously described. 2
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