CHEMILUMINESCENCE PATTERNS FROM BACTERIAL CULTURES UNDERGOING BACTERIOPHAGE INDUCED MASS LYSIS

Chemiluminescence from liquid culture media, as they are being used fo r the growth of microorganisms, is a common observation under aerobic conditions. During the growth of bacterial cells it is subjected to a process that leads to an almost complete elimination of the Light emis sion. We report on a cancellation of this quenching process during mas s lysis of cultures of the strains Escherichia coli B and Lactococcus lactis lactis 530-12 induced by the bacteriophages T7 and P530-12, res pectively, leading to distinct light emission patterns. This cancellat ion does not occur with E. coli B when lysis occurs above a specific c ritical cell density. As cancellation can be induced by the addition o f detergents to the lysate, this is probably due to the formation of m embrane vesicles that continue quenching the chemiluminescence from th e medium. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.