A total of 520 clinical and environmental isolates of the family Micrococcaceae that fermented glucose anaerobically were tested for their ability to produce coagulase, thermostable nuclease, and deoxyribonuclease. Of these, 450 isolates coagulated rabbit plasma, produced thermostable nuclease, and were identified as Staphylococcus aureus, 447 of which produced a 3+ to 4+ clot. The remaining th...

The production of extracellular deoxyribonuclease was examined with anaerobic organisms isolated from clinical specimens. Nuclease activity was extraordinarily common. All strains of Fusobacterium, including eight species, as well as Bacteroides fragilis and B. melaninogenicus, displayed enzyme activity. Whereas the gram-positive bacteria were generally less productive, all strains of Clostridi...

In sera from 4 of 25,000 individuals tested for antibodies against streptococci, extremely high antideoxyribonuclease B titers ( > 10(6) U/ml) were found. Two of the cases were diagnosed as monoclonal gammopathies. The M-components were shown to possess the anti-deoxyribonuclease B activity. The other two cases were diagnosed as relapsing erysipelas. The high serum titers of deoxyribonuclease B...

A total of 504 clinical isolates of the family Micrococcaceae were tested for coagulase, deoxyribonuclease, clumping factor, and phosphatase to determine whether there is a correlation between the results of these tests and the pathogenicity of staphylococci. In the tests for coagulase production, it was found that either human or rabbit plasma could be used with broth cultures, whereas rabbit ...

The effects of proteolytic enzymes, ribonuclease, and deoxyribonuclease upon a fibrous component of chick embryo mitochondria, which was previously shown to have many fixation and staining properties characteristic of the bacterial nucleoplasm, are reported. Pepsin digestion of formaldehyde-fixed tissues removed the membranes and matrices of mitochondria, but a pepsin-resistant fibrous material...

Incubation of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv Himalaya) half-seeds with gibberellic acid enhances the secretion of ribonuclease and deoxyribonuclease from aleurone tissue (MJ Chrispeels, JE Varner 1967 Plant Physiol 42: 398-406; L Taiz, JE Starks 1977 Plant Physiol 60: 182-189). These activities were over 50-fold greater in medium of half-seeds incubated with gibberellic acid than in control medi...

A total of 350 staphylococci isolated from various clinical sources were examined for bound and free coagulase, fermentation of mannitol, and deoxyribonuclease. The economical coagulase-mannitol-agar method of Esber and Faulcomer was found to be suitable for the detection of free coagulase and mannitol fermentation. A significant number of coagulase- and mannitol-negative staphylococci proved t...

Charge sensors based on nanoscale field-effect transistors are a promising new tool to probe the dynamics of individual enzymes. However, it is currently unknown whether the electrostatic signals associated with biological activity exceed detection limits. We report calculations of electrostatic signatures of two representative enzymes, deoxyribonuclease I and T4 lysozyme. Our simulations revea...

Incorporation of methyl green dye into an agar medium containing deoxyribo-nucleic acid results in an improved medium for detecting deoxyribonuclease-producing bacteria. Use of the dye makes it unnecessary to use acid to demonstrate deoxyribonuclease activity, thus allowing subculture or reincubation of colonies. The improved medium is highly sensitive and can be used for primary isolation of S...