214 BACTERIAL OXIDATIONS AND REDUCTIONS 



Neill' has recently made the interesting discovery that various bacterial hemo- 

 lysins which deteriorate rapidly on exposure to air undergo a reversible oxidation and 

 that their hemolytic activity can be restored equally well by exposing them to a chemi- 

 cal reducing agent or to the reducing action of bacterial suspensions from cultures of 

 B. coli or of an anaerobe. 



BACTERIAL CATALASE AND PEROXIDE PRODUCTION BY BACTERIA 



Although the power of bacteria to decompose hydrogen peroxide was observed 

 and investigated independently by Gottstein^ and Beijerinck-' more than thirty years 

 ago, it has been very little studied by most bacfyeriologists. Lowenstein/ however? 

 noticed the absence of catalase in cultures of the tetanus organism in 1903, and Ry- 

 wosch and Rywosch^ in 1907 noted that it was absent or present in very slight amount 

 in cultures of CI. tetani and CI. botulinum. In 1923 the writer and Gordon/ following 

 up earlier work with Govenlock^ on the substances inhibitory to bacterial growth dif- 

 fusing into culture media in the vicinity of growths of pneumococci, found that the 

 inhibition was mainly due to the formation of H2O2 by the pneumococcus. This re- 

 sult has since been confirmed by Avery and Morgan" and by others. The fact that 

 some bacteria could produce H2O2 gave an enhanced interest to observations on bac- 

 terial catalase and led the writer and Gordon' to investigate a wider range of varieties 

 of bacteria than had been previously examined for their catalase effect. This investi- 

 gation led to the following classification of the bacteria investigated: 

 Group I. The anaerobes, devoid of catalase, extremely sensitive to H2O2, and considered as 



potential peroxide-producers 

 Group II. Peroxide-producers, devoid of catalase and only moderately sensitive to H2O2; 



the pneumococci, many types of streptococci, the lactic acid bacteria, and some sarcinae 

 Group III. Non-peroxide-producers and devoid of catalase; certain streptococci, dysentery 



bacilli (Shiga type), and some hemoglobinophilic bacteria 

 Group IV. Bacteria producing catalase. The great majority of the bacteria capable of 



growing aerobically or both aerobically and anaerobically 



The most vigorous catalase effect is shown by the strictly aerobic bacilli, especially 

 those such as B. pyocyaneus which form pigments. Two pathogenic species are also 

 outstanding in this respect — the gonococcus and the B. pertussis. Callow'" specially 

 investigated anaerobes and found them devoid of catalase activity. Sherman" has 



' Neill, J. M.: J. Exper. Med., 44, 199 and 215. 1926. 

 ' Gottstein, A.: Virchoic's Arch.f. path. Anat., 133, 295. 1893. 

 J Beijerinck, W. M.: N aturwissenschaftUche Rundschau, 8, 671. 1923. 



-i Lowenstein, E.: Wien. kiln. Wchnschr., 16, 1393. 1903. (Quoted by Kluy\'er, A. J.: Ztschr.f. 

 phys. Chemie, 138, 100. 1924.) 



sRywosch, D. and M.: Centralhl.f. Bakleriol., Abt. I, Orig., 44, 295. 1907. 

 ^McLeod, J. W., and Gordon, J.: /. Path, and Bad., 25, 139. 1922. 

 'McLeod, J. W., and Govenlock, P.: Lancet, i, 900. 1921. 

 * Avery, O. T., and Morgan, H. J.: /. Exper. Med., 39, 275 and 289. 1924. 

 »McLeod, J. W., and Gordon, J.: /. Path, and Bad., 26, 326. 1923. 

 " Callow, A. B.: ibid., p. 320. 1923. 

 " Sherman, J. M.: J. Bad., 6, 379. 1921; 11, 417. 1926. 



