Enzymatic Lysis of Living Microbial Cells: A Universal Approach to Calculating the Rate of Cell Lysis in Turbidimetric Measurements

Abstract

The data of the turbidimetric measurement for the enzymatic lysis of various living bacterial cells are analyzed. A method for the correct recalculation of the turbidimetric data (–ΔA/Δt) into absolute values of the change in the concentration of living cells (–ΔCFU/Δt) is proposed. The dimensionless efficiency of cell lysis–(1/CFU₀) · ΔCFU/Δt for various bacterial cells is calculated to correctly compare the efficiency of the action of different bacteriolytic factors on various bacterial cells.