Somerson, Norman L. (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Md.), Robert H. Purcell, David Taylor-Robinson, and Robert M. Chanock.
Hemolysin of Mycoplasma pneumoniae. J. Bacteriol. 89:813-818. 1965.-Discrete colonies of Mycoplasma pneumoniae or M. laidlawii on
agar produced complete (beta) lysis of guinea pig erythrocytes. Crowding of colonies on
agar plates, omission of yeast extract from the medium, and incubation under reduced
oxygen tension inhibited
hemolysin production. Colonies which were not viable after ultraviolet radiation or heating at 56 C did not produce
hemolysin. In addition,
hemolysis was suppressed in old cultures in which viability was diminished, and was eliminated when colonies were removed from the
agar surface by micromanipulation. The
hemolysin passed through a viscose dialysis membrane. These findings suggest that the
hemolysin is labile, continuously released by the colonies, of low molecular weight, and probably nonprotein in nature.