[A micromethod for the rapid detection of proteolytic activity of microorganisms]

The author has developed a micromodification of the rapid photoemulsion method for the detection of the microorganism proteolytic activity. The test is carried out on polystyrene plates, meat-peptone broth is used as the suspension fluid. Rectangular film strips are vertically placed into the wells, thus preventing false-negative reactions possible in case of an erroneous horizontal position of the film with the emulsion layer turned upwards if square or round film fragments are used. The proteolytic activities of 120 microorganism strains (95 of these hydrolyze gelatin) have been examined by the micromethod and the routine test with gelatin. The suggested test is 2-4-fold more rapid than the routine one used in investigations of the cultures slowly hydrolyzing gelatin. The fact that the test is carried out on the plates considerably reduces the nutrient medium and the number of laboratory glassware and helps obtain more accurate results.