A SINGLE FORM OF SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE FOUND IN BACILLUS POPILLIAE AND IN SOME OTHER GRAM-POSITIVE BACTERIA

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Abstract
Among the bacteria examined for superoxide dismutase (SOD) B. popilliae had the highest activity. When this bacterium was grown in a complex medium anaerobically, no SOD activity was present. This was because 2 forms of enzyme, mangano and iron, were only synthesized in the presence of O2 or because the organism only made a single SOD under aerobic conditions and it was not synthesized under anaerobic conditions. Extracts of B. popilliae and a number of other bacteria (B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. cereus, B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki, B. sphaericus, Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens, Streptococcus lactis and Propionibacterium shermanii) were examined by electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels. All gram positive bacteria produced single band of SOD activity while gram negatives produced 2 bands. It is not known whether the a single SOD of gram positives belonged to mangano or iron form, or some as yet undescribed form. In B. popilliae SOD activity was enhanced by growing in air, a characteristic of the E. coli mangano enzyme, but the migration velocity did not correspond.

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