Effect of Mitomycin C on the Production of Staphylokinase, Nuclease and Hemolysin by Staphylococcus aureus

Using Staphylococcus aureus, the effect of mitomycin C on the growth of cells and the production of staphylokinase (SAK), nuclease, and hemolysin was studied. The following results were obtained. 1. All the strains investigated were lysed by addition of mitomycin C in the logarithmic phase at a concentration between 0.1 and 5.0γ/ml. 2. The strains investigated could be divided into two groups, promotion and inhibition, as to the effect of mitomycin C on the production of SAK. The most remarkable effect was observed when mitomycin C had been added at a concentration of 0.5γ/ml to a staphylococcal culture with turbidity of KSR 150. 3. In the case of the production of β-hemolysin, the strains could also be divided into two groups in the same sense of the word. No parallelism, however, was shown between the effect of mitomycin C on the production of SAK and that on the production of β-hemolysin. 4. The production of nuclease and α-hemolysin was generally inhibited by addition of mitomycin C.