[Comparative study of the proteolytic activity of staphylococci and detection of a specific protease]

Staphylococci of 194 strains and of different origin were tested for the presence of active extracellular protease. Activity of protease from Staphylococcus aureus was found to be significantly higher than that of Staphylococcus epidermidis. The culture that was isolated and characterized proved capable to produce an enzyme of high activity and narrow substrate specificity towards bonds formed by the COOH-group of dicarboxylic amino-acids. The protease within the staphylococcal cell was shown to be linked with the peripheral integral membrane proteins solubilized by 1% Triton X-100.