In Vitro Production of Choleragen and Vascular Permeability Factor byVibrio cholerae

Abstract
The in vitro production of significant amounts of extracellular choleragen and vascular permeability factor (PF) byVibrio choleraestrain VC-12 (Ogawa) in a basal peptone medium required forced aeration, low incubation temperature, and a low initialpH. Filtrates of alkaline peptone cultures of VC-12 grown at 37 C contained an ion translocase inhibitory activity but neither choleragen nor PF activity, Sterile filtrates ofpH 6.5 peptone cultures of VC-12 grown at 29 C contained no ion translocase inhibitory activity but possessed choleragen activity (lethality for the suckling rabbit) and PF activity to the extent that the intradermal inoculation of 0.1 ml of a 1:12,288 dilution of such a filtrate gave rise to a vascular permeability reaction (8 by 8 mm in diameter) in the guinea pig. PF excretion occurred during the late logarithmic phase of growth but did not appear to be the consequence of cell lysis. The PF activities of strains VC-12 and 569B (Inaba) were neutralized to the same extent by anticholeragen antiserum prepared against crude 569B choleragen.