Detection of bacterial cell wall hydrolases after denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

Cell walls from various Gram-positive bacteria were incorporated at a concentration of 0.2% (w/v) into polyacrylamide gels as a substrate for detection of cell wall hydrolases. Bacterial extracts from crude cell wall preparations were denatured with sodium dodecyl sulfate and 2-mercaptoethanol and subjected to denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in gels containing bacterial cell walls. After renaturation in the presence of purified and buffered 1% (v/v) Triton X-100, cell wall hydrolases were visualized as clear lytic zones against the opaque cell wall background. One to fifteen bands with lytic activity could be detected, depending on bacterial extracts and on the nature of the cell walls incorporated into gels. Crude cell wall extracts were the best source of cell wall hydrolases from various Gram-positive bacteria such as Clostridium perfringens (15 bands), Micrococcus luteus (1 band), Bacillus megaterium (4 bands), Bacillus sp. (6 bands), B. cereus (3 bands), B. subtilis (7 bands), Staphylococcus aureus (13 bands), Streptococcus faecalis (3 bands), and Strep. pyogenes (5 bands). Molecular masses of cell wall hydrolases ranged from 17 to 114.6 kDa. Lytic activities against cell walls of Corynebacterium sepedonicum (Clavibacter michiganense pv. sepedonicum) could be shown with the cell wall extracts of Strep. pyogenes (45.7 kDa), Strep. faecalis (67 kDa), B. megaterium (67 kDa), and Staph. aureus (67 kDa).