The toxic substances (endotoxins) from the bacterial cell walls were extracted by using incubator, centrifuge, UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and their fatty acid compositions were analyze by Gas Chromatography. The lethal toxicities and pyrogenic activities of toxic substances were tested and the results were compared each other.
The results of fatty acid analyses showed that the major fatty acid of the toxic substance was tetradecanoic acid for Vibrio vulnificus, dodecanoic acid for Escherichia coli and decanoic acid for Salmonella typhimurium. These three fatty acids were the main fatty acids for three toxic substances (more than 70%). The unique points in the fatty acid compositions were that tetradecanoic acid was composed as important one (37.15%) for V. vulnificus and that the amount of hexadecanoic acid was very small (below 2%) for three toxic substances. The lethal toxicity in ICR mice of toxic substance from V. vulnificus (LD_50 was 52.5 ㎎/㎏) was similar to that of E. coli (56.5 ㎎/㎏), but weaker than that of S. typhimurium (37.5 ㎎/㎏). Toxic substance from V. vulnificus was more pyrogenic in rabbit than that from E. coli, but less than that from S. typhimurium.

• Bong-Hun LEE(Dept. of Chemistry, Pusan National Univ.) | 이봉헌
• Heung-Jai PARK(Dept. of Environmental Science, Inje Univ.) | 박흥재