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. 1971 Mar;105(3):873–879. doi: 10.1128/jb.105.3.873-879.1971

Mechanism of Resistance to Antibiotic Synergism in Enterococci

Robert A Zimmermann a,1, Robert C Moellering Jr a, Arnold N Weinberg a
PMCID: PMC248512  PMID: 4994038

Abstract

Enterococci exhibit two types of resistance to streptomycin. Moderately high-level resistance is observed in most naturally occurring strains and can be overcome by simultaneous exposure to penicillin. In addition, very high-level resistance is found in those strains against which penicillin plus streptomycin fail to produce synergism in vitro. To study the mechanism of streptomycin resistance in enterococci, ribosomes from a wild-type strain and from a highly streptomycin-resistant mutant were isolated, characterized, and studied in an in vitro amino acid incorporation system. The ribosomes from the organism with moderately high-level streptomycin resistance were sensitive to streptomycin in vitro, suggesting that this type of resistance is caused by failure of streptomycin to reach the ribosomes. Very high-level resistance (and lack of penicillin-streptomycin synergism), on the other hand, appears to be due to ribosomally mediated streptomycin resistance.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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