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. 1972 Dec;112(3):1090–1098. doi: 10.1128/jb.112.3.1090-1098.1972

Action of Phospholipase A2 and Phospholipase C on Bacillus subtilis Protoplasts

J A F Op Den Kamp 1, M T Kauerz 1, L L M Van Deenen 1
PMCID: PMC251535  PMID: 4629652

Abstract

Protoplasts prepared from Bacillus subtilis by lysozyme digestion lysed in the presence of pure pancreatic phospholipase A2. The phospholipids cardiolipin, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and lysylphosphatidylglycerol, which are present in the membrane, are degraded by phospholipase A2 only after removal of the cell wall, giving free fatty acids and lyso derivatives. The four phospholipids are hydrolyzed equally well at a given enzyme concentration. Differences in the phospholipid composition of the protoplasts were obtained by variations in the growth medium, time of harvesting, and preincubation time with lysozyme. The extent of hydrolysis appeared to depend on the initial phospholipid composition. A relative increase in acidic phospholipids in the membrane facilitated the action of phospholipase A2, whereas the rate of hydrolysis was diminished when protoplasts were tested which contained a relatively high amount of positively charged phospholipid. Pure phospholipase C from B. cereus preferentially hydrolyzed phosphatidyl-ethanolamine in the B. subtilis membrane. More than 80% of this phospholipid was converted into diglyceride, whereas only 30% of the cardiolipin was hydrolyzed. Such a loss of phospholipids, however, was not followed by lysis of the protoplasts. Liposomes were prepared from the lipid extracts of B. subtilis and incubated with both phospholipases. The hydrolysis pattern of the phospholipids in these model membrane systems was identical to the hydrolysis pattern of the phospholipids in the protoplast membrane. Phospholipase A2 hydrolyzed all the phospholipids in the liposomes equally well, whereas phospholipase C preferentially degraded phosphatidylethanolamine.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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