Isolation of mycoplasma membranes by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-induced lysis.

A simple procedure was devised to prepared membranes from Mycoplasma gallisepticum cells. The cells were lysed in an isosmotic NaCl solution by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, which blocks ATPase activity and interferes with the regulation of cell volume. The procedure can be used to isolate membranes of other osmotically resistant mycoplasmas.