Growth and enterotoxin B synthesis by Staphylococcus aureus S6 in associative growth with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The interaction of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus S6 was studied in two systems. In the first system, the two organisms were grown together in a single flask. Growth of P. aeruginosa was unaffected, but growth of S. aureus was modified. After 24 h, 99.9% of the staphylococci population lost their salt tolerance when plated on media containing 7.5% sodium chloride, and enterotoxin B synthesis by S. aureus was diminished. In the second growth system, pure cultures of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus were grown in membrane-type spinner flasks. The growth and salt tolerance of S. aureus was again affected, but to a lesser degree. Cultures of S. aureus from these experiments recovered their salt tolerance in 6 h when transferred to fresh medium.Nutrient deficiency, lack of oxygen, or pigment production by the pseudomonads did not contribute significantly to loss of salt tolerance or inhibition of enterotoxin B synthesis, but a staphylolytic enzyme(s) isolated from P. aeruginosa was shown to be responsible for the loss of these properties.