Abstract
It has been reported by Fleming( 1 ), Florey( 2 ), Prickett, Miller and McDonald ( 3 ), 4 , Bradford and Roberts( 5 ) and others, that lysozyme is widely distributed in animal tissues and fluids. Although none of these authors attempted to assign structural function to this enzyme, it is interesting to note the frequent occurrence of lysozyme. Quantitative data relative to the enzyme is not available, although a number of qualitative tests, some of which approximated quantitative procedures, have been made. Since Smolelis and Hartsell( 6 ) described an accurate method for the determination of lysozyme from natural materials, it has been possible to accumulate more complete data.
Fleming( 7 ) reported that lysozyme was present in the white of eggs from the thrush, the wagtail and the moorhen. Is it probable that the concentration of lysozyme in tissues or fluids is determined, in part, by the heredity of the species? A study of the lysozyme content of a number of egg albumins was carried out as a first step toward an answer to this question. Samples were obtained from chicken, bantam hen, guinea hen, goose, duck, turkey, quail, pheasant, chuckar partridge, horned lark, herring gull, and although not avian in origin, a number of turtle eggs.
Methods. The fresh eggs were broken and the whites separated from the yolks. These whites were then pooled and blended in a Waring blendor for 5 seconds. After mixing, the material was distributed into small test tubes, quick frozen and stored at −9°C. By handling in this manner it was possible to carry out the assays at convenient times. Earlier work had shown that no loss in the titer of egg albumin occurred after storage for several weeks. Lysozyme determinations were made in accordance with the method described by Smolelis and Hartsell( 6 ). The results are presented in Table I. No calculated values are shown for the lysozyme contained in the goose or turkey egg albumins.
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