Penetrability of a marine pseudomonad by inulin, sucrose, and glycerol and its relation to the mechanism of lysis

Abstract

Cells of a marine pseudomonad were prevented from lysing when suspended in a 0.15 M sucrose solution even after treatment of the sucrose with an ion exchange resin to remove contaminating trace elements. Isolated cell envelopes of the organism in concentrations of sucrose able to prevent lysis of the cells released non-dialyzable hexosamine-containing material into the suspending medium. This did not occur when the envelopes were suspended in concentrations of NaCl able to prevent cell lysis. Glycerol was found to occupy almost all the available fluid space in a packed cell preparation of the organism. Sucrose occupied less space than glycerol, and inulin the least. When the sucrose concentration was increased from 3 mM to 0.2 M, both the sucrose and inulin spaces increased. The results have been interpreted as indicating that sucrose prevents lysis by balancing the internal osmotic pressure of the cells, that the various layers of the cell envelope of the organism differ in their permeability to various solutes, and that the whole cell shrinks in solutions of high osmotic pressure.