Production and heat stability of staphylococcal nuclease.

No correlation existed between numbers of organisms and nuclease activity in laboratory-grown cultures of Staphylococcus aureus. Nuclease production was inhibited by anaerobic incubation and stimulated by aeration. Strains of S. aureus varied in the production of nuclease. The optimum pH for enzyme production was 8.3 and employment of a tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer system resulted in increased production of the enzyme as compared with a phosphate buffer. The nuclease was extremely heat-stable and had a D value of 16.6 min at 130 C.