<P> The first chemical synthesis of a lysozyme protein was attempted by Prof. George W. Kenner and his group at the University of Liverpool in England . This was finally achieved in 2007 by Steve Kent at the University of Chicago who made a synthetic functional lysozyme molecule . </P> <P> Lysozyme crystals have been used to grow other functional materials for catalysis and biomedical applications . Lysozyme is a commonly used enzyme for lysing gram negative bacteria . Due to the unique function of lysozyme in which it can digest the cell wall and causes osmotic shock (burst the cell by suddenly change in solute concentration around the cell and thus the osmotic pressure), lysozyme is commonly used in lab setting to release proteins from bacterium periplasm while the inner membrane remains sealed as vesicles called the spheroplast . </P> <P> For example, E. Coli can be lysed using Lysozyme in order to free the contents of the Periplasm space . It is especially useful in lab setting for trying to collect the contents of the periplasm . Lysozyme treatment is optimal at particular temperatures, pH ranges, and salt concentrations . Lysozyme activity increases with increasing temperatures, up to 60 degrees Celsius, with a pH range of 6.0 - 7.0 . The salts present also affect lysozyme treatment, where some assert inhibitory effects, and others promote lysis via lysozyme treatment . Sodium chloride induces lysis, but at high concentrations, it is an active inhibitor of lysis . Similar observations have been seen with the use of potassium salts . Slight variations are present due to differences in bacterial strains . </P> <P> The antibacterial property of hen egg white, due to the lysozyme it contains, was first observed by Laschtschenko in 1909, although it was not until 1922 that the name' lysozyme' was coined, by Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin . Fleming first observed the antibacterial action of lysozyme when he treated bacterial cultures with nasal mucus from a patient suffering from a head cold . </P>

Which bacterium tested shows evidence of lysis by lysozyme