INDIANA UNIVERSITY
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA

DEPARTMENT OF BACTERIOLOGY

September 27, 1955

Prof, Joshua Lederberg
Dept. of Genetics
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin

Dear Josh:

I enclose a copy of the protoplasting procedure. I am sorry to be
so slow, but we were out of copies of the original sheet and had lost
the master, so after several days of hunting we re-wrote it.

I should stress that the procedure is a little sensitive. Several
people who have tried it have told us that it doesn't work, and in
each case it turns out that they were using an overnight culture,
adding the lysozyme last, using broth-grown cells, or otherwise
radically altering the method. Provided the cells are grown in this
medium with aeration, and provided that the procedure is followed,
there is nothing tricky at all; it works every time. It can be
expanded to any reasonable volume with everything in proportion; the
levels of lysozyme and Versene are somewhat critical.

I want to thank you for your hospitality during my visit. I
know that visitors can be a terrible pain, and I appreciate the time
you spent with me. We are trying your microscove technique and it
seems very neat.

I hope that you will be able to visit us. We would be delighted
to have a seninar almost any time. If you are passing in the vicinity
we would ~e very much like to have you stop over. It is easy to pick
people up in Indianapolis, which is considerably more accessible than
Bloomington. We can always put you up, and, if we have a couple of
days notice, arrange a small-scale social event.

 

DF/er

ence