On a Bacterial Enzyme which Specifically Decomposes O Substance

Iseki and Okadal) previously found a bacterium, Clostridium tertium, producing an enzyme which decomposes only group A substance specifically, and they reported on it. Later we found another bacterium in soil which decomposes only 0 substance of blood group substances, and here we want to report on an enzyme contained in this bacterium. 0 substance is a blood group substance found in larger amount in 0 group blood cells than in other blood cells. It is also contained in albino rat and rabbit blood cells, guinea-pig kidney, Shiga's dysentery bacillus and in secretions of man and many animals2)3)l)5). We name it Eisler-Kagaya antigen after the researchers who developed the study of this heterophile antigen.