Lysis of Desulfovibrio vulgaris by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid lysozyme.

The lysis of certain gram-negative bacteria by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and lysozyme was first reported by Repaske (7, 8). Lysis by EDTA alone was reported for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (3, 8), Vibrio succinogenes (9), and Alkaligenes faecalis (3). The mechanism for lysis by EDTA (2) in conjunction with lysozyme has been attributed to the interruption of the integrity of the cell surface resulting from interference with divalent cation bonding (4, 8). Hypotonicity of the surrounding medium and alkaline conditions were shown to be requirements for the lysis of V. succinogenes by EDTA or lysozyme (9). Ochynski and Postgate (5) demonstrated that Desulfovibrio vulgaris (6) cells were lysed by EDTA and lysozyme. Under isotonic conditions, these cells formed osmotically fragile vibrios which rapidly lysed when transferred to an hypotonic environment. As part of our program for determining the various enzymatic activities associated with the membrane fragments from D. vulgaris, the conditions for lysing these cells with EDTA and lyso-