Non-O1 Vibrio cholerae hemolysin: purification, partial characterization, and immunological relatedness to El Tor hemolysin.

Hemolysin of a non-O1 Vibrio cholerae strain was purified and characterized. The purified hemolysin gave a single protein band on conventional and sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. Its molecular weight was estimated as 60,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis. It had a pI of 5.7. The purified hemolysin caused increased vascular permeability of rabbit skin and rapid death of mice on intravenous injection and also lysed erythrocytes of various animal species. An Ouchterlony double gel diffusion test using antiserum against the purified hemolysin indicated that the hemolysin from non-O1 V. cholerae was immunologically related, but not identical, to the hemolysin from El Tor V. cholerae. Antiserum against the purified hemolysin neutralized the hemolytic activity of the hemolysins from not only non-O1 but also El Tor V. cholerae.