Production of a bacteriocin, ulceracin 378, by Corynebacterium ulcerans

The production of the bacteriocin ulceracin 378 by Corynebacterium ulcerans 378 was demonstrated during the growth of the organism on solid medium. Ulceracin 378 was not found in broth cultures and could not be extracted from the organisms by various solvents and salt solutions. Ulceracin 378 was not inducible by UV irradiation or mitomycin C treatments. Ulceracin 378 was active against all of the C. ulcerans strains tested and some related species, but it was not autoinhibitory. The active material was not phage related and was extracted from cultures grown on semisolid media composed of proteose peptone, Tween 80, Casamino Acids, glycerol, and sodium chloride. The yield was significantly reduced by either increasing the agar concentration or omitting Tween 80. Ulceracin 378 was resistant to DNase, RNase, phospholipases C and D, and alkaline phosphatase but was susceptible to proteolytic enzymes. This suggests that the active principle of ulceracin is protein in nature. Ulceracin 378 was partially purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, dialysis, and chromatography on DEAE-cellulose.