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Abstract
SUMMARY: When Staphylococcus aureus strain 524/SC/55 is inoculated from an overnight culture into fresh broth only small amounts of hyaluronidase are formed at first, but while growth proceeds at a constant exponential rate an increasing proportion of the cell protein is secreted into the medium as hyaluronidase. This increase in proportion continues for eleven generations. Thereafter, it remains constant even when the organisms are transferred to fresh medium. The organisms of the inoculum taken from overnight cultures are deficient in thiamine and a partial deficiency of this and other essential growth factors suppresses the proportion of hyaluronidase formed. The accumulation of α-aminobutyric acid in organisms from overnight cultures was demonstrated; the addition of this substance to cultures decreases the proportion of cell protein which is turned into hyaluronidase.
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