Starch Gel Electrophoresis of a Fraction of Certain of the Pleuropneumonia-Like Group of Microorganisms

Abstract

gel electrophoresis of a fraction of certain of the pleuropneumonia-like group of microorganisms. J. Bacteriol. 86:1145-1151. 1963.-Starch gel electrophoresis is suggested as a means of further characterizing strains of the pleuropneumonia-like group of microorganisms (PPLO), defined herein as including both the various "L" forms of bacteria and the Mycoplasmataceae. The techniques used may be varied to "select" other groups of proteins or classes of compounds (e.g., glycoproteins, lipoproteins, and enzymes). Only the results by starch gel electrophoresis on the soluble portion of sonically treated, washed cultures, grown in a pancreatic digest of beef heart enriched with bovine serum, are reported. As yet, differences appear more significant than similarities among the electrophoretically separable proteins. The demonstration of characteristic protein patterns for each strain studied suggests possibilities of further dividing serological groups into serologically distinct subtypes. Tentative migration

Electrophoretic Patterns of Membrane Proteins of Mycoplasma

“…Fowler et al (6) first suggested use of electrophoretic patterns of Mycoplasma proteins as a means for characterizing Mycoplasma strains. By starch-gel electrophoresis of the soluble portion of sonically treated organisms, these authors demonstrated that each strain studied had a characteristic protein pattern.…”

Isoelectric focusing of mycoplasma proteins

“…Electrophoresis has been extensively used for speciating these microorganisms (1, 3, 6, 7, 9-11, 14-17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25). The first such attempt, with a starch gel system, revealed a considerable number of patterns in the soluble fractions of mycoplasma proteins (10). The use of polyacrylamide, as a disc gel (1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14-17, 19, 20, 22), or direct comparison, as a flat gel (24,25), requires solubilization of the cells, either in a phenolacetic acid-water mixture (14) or in sodium dodecyl sulfate (6).…”