Mechanism of phenotypic tolerance of nongrowing pneumococci to beta-lactam antibiotics.

Abstract excerpt

Within minutes after the onset of deprivation of an essential nutrient, all bacteria develop resistance to lysis by beta-lactam antibiotics, a phenomenon termed phenotypic tolerance. Two phases of this process were identified in pneumococci and the activity of the major autolysin, an N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase, was studied in each phase. Autolysin was detectable by immunofluorescence in a uniform...

Topics

• Amino Acids
• Anti-Bacterial Agents
• Bacteriolysis
• Cell Wall
• Drug Resistance, Microbial
• Fluorescent Antibody Technique
• Hydrolysis
• Microscopy, Electron
• N-Acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine Amidase
• Phenotype
• Streptococcus pneumoniae