Invertase (3-D-fructofuranoside fructohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.26) and dextransucrase (a-1, 6-glucan: D-fructose 2-glucosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.5) were purified from the culture fluids of Streptococcus mutans by chromatography on Sepharose 6B and diethylaminoethyl-cellulose followed by treatment with hydroxyapatite. Each of the enzyme preparations gave a single band when analyzed by either polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis or immunodiffusion. The antigenic determinant of invertase was different from that of dextransucrase on immunodiffusion. The pH optima were 5.25 for invertase and 5.75 for dextransucrase, and the Km

Seventy-six teeth from open canals were extracted to prepare serial longitudinal sections. The sections were made from apical portions of the teeth and stained. Ninety similar teeth were extracted to prepare dentinal splinters with files from the enlarged infected canal. The splinters were spread on a selected medium to grow S. mutans. S. mutans was detected in 48.7% of the 76 teeth examined. The distance of invasion of S. mutans in the dentinal tubules revealed by immunofluorescence averaged 509 micrometer from the canal wall and reached 1150 micrometer, depending on the serogroups of S. mutans. Unidentified germs in the sections which were demonstrated by Gram's stain invaded further than S. mutans. The frequency of appearance of the serogroups of S. mutans was 32.6% (d), 27.9% (c), 24.4% (a), and 15.5% (b).

A glucosyltransferase responsible for water-insoluble glucan synthesis was purified from the culture fluids of Streptococcus mutans 6715-15 strain by column chromatography on Toyopearl HW-60 and subsequently on hydroxyapatite. The enzyme preparation gave a single band on analysis by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The pH dependency of the activity showed two optimal peaks at 5.8 and 7.3, and the Km values for sucrose were 1.4 and 3.3 mM at the respective optimal pHs. The molecular weight determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis was 180,000. Although the enzyme scarcely synthesized waterinsoluble and water-soluble glucans from sucrose, water-insoluble glucan formed from sucrose in the presence of dextran T10 consisted of over 93% a-1,3glucosidic linkage. Analysis of the structure of water-insoluble glucan indicated that the enzyme catalyzed the formation of branch points in a-1 ,6-glucan (dextran) and transferred the glucosyl moiety of sucrose to the C-3 position of the branching glucose residue of dextran. Since this enzyme has not yet been registered, we named it mutansynthetase (EC 2.4.1.?).

Dextransucrase and invertase of some strains of Streptococcus mutans were examined by immunodiffusion with antisera against enzymes purified from strain HS-6 (Bratthall's serotype a). Both antisera cross-reacted with crude enzyme preparations from the other serotype a (strains HS-1 and AHT) and d organisms (strains KIR, OMZ176, and OMZ65) but not with those from serotype b (strains FA-1 and BHT) or c organisms (strains GS-5, Ingbritt, and NCTC 10449). Based upon the antiserum used, the orders of antigenic similarity of the cross-reacting enzymes to the HS-6 enzymes were HS-6 > HS-1 > AHT = KIR = OMZ176 = OMZ65 for dextransucrase and HS-6 = HS-1 > AHT = KIR = OMZ176 = OMZ65 for invertase. It was found that the enzymes from serotype a organisms were not always antigenically homogeneous, as seen between strains HS-6, HS-1, or AHT for dextransucrase, and between the HS group and strain AHT for invertase. Antiserum against the HS-6 dextransucrase markedly inhibited the heterologous dextransucrases of serotype a organisms with the exception of strain HS-1 and d organisms, with or without the addition of dextran.

Neuraminidase activity has been found in a variety of strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae, both toxinogenic and nontoxinogenic. The enzyme has been shown to be intracellular, possibly associated with the cytoplasmic membrane. Toxinogenic strains of the diphtheria bacillus, grown under conditions unsuitable for maximal toxin production, produce neuraminidase, and the enzyme has been purified from cells of the Park Williams no. 8 strain grown under such conditions. Diphtherial toxin and diphtherial neuraminidase have similar molecular weights and remain associated during column chromatography; immunochemically, and in their electrophoretic behavior, they appear distinct.