Skip to main content
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1964 Sep;88(3):591–594. doi: 10.1128/jb.88.3.591-594.1964

INDUCTION BY ANTIBIOTICS AND COMPARATIVE SENSITIVITY OF L-PHASE VARIANTS OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS

C W Molander 1, B M Kagan 1, H J Weinberger 1, E M Heimlich 1, R J Busser 1
PMCID: PMC277352  PMID: 14208493

Abstract

Molander, C. W. (Cedars of Lebanon-Mount Sinai Hospitals, Los Angeles, Calif.), B. M. Kagan, H. J. Weinberger, E. M. Heimlich, and R. J. Busser. Induction by antibiotics and comparative sensitivity of L-phase variants of Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol. 88:591–594. 1964.—The penicillins, cephalothin, vancomycin, and bacitracin were found to be less inhibitory to the L-phase variants than to their respective parent bacteria. Those antibiotics not considered to be primarily inhibitors of cell-wall synthesis were, in general, somewhat more inhibitory to the L form than to their parent bacteria. Only the penicillins and cephalothin readily induced L-phase variation. Novobiocin induced pleomorphic growth resembling the earliest stages of L-phase transformation. Failure of observable induction by bacitracin and vancomycin suggests that these two antibiotics affect cell-wall synthesis in a manner different from the penicillins, or that L-phase transformation may require more than “penicillin-like” interference with cell-wall synthesis.

Full text

PDF
591

Selected References

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

  1. BRAUDE A. I., SIEMIENSKI J., JACOBS I. Protoplast formation in human urine. Trans Assoc Am Physicians. 1961;74:234–245. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CHANG T. W., WEINSTEIN L. IN VITRO BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF CEPHALOTHIN. J Bacteriol. 1963 May;85:1022–1027. doi: 10.1128/jb.85.5.1022-1027.1963. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. DIENES L., WEINBERGER H. J. The L forms of bacteria. Bacteriol Rev. 1951 Dec;15(4):245–288. doi: 10.1128/br.15.4.245-288.1951. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. GODZESKI C. W., BRIER G., PAVEY D. E. Bacterial L-phase growth as a possible complicating factor in certain bacteriological procedures. Life Sci. 1962 Nov;1:565–569. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(62)90086-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. KAGAN B. M., MOLANDER C. W., WEINBERGER H. J. Induction and cultivation of staphylococcal L forms in the presence of methicillin. J Bacteriol. 1962 May;83:1162–1163. doi: 10.1128/jb.83.5.1162-1163.1962. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. MARSTON J. Observations on L forms of staphylococci. J Infect Dis. 1961 Jan-Feb;108:75–84. doi: 10.1093/infdis/108.1.75. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. MATTMAN L. H., TUNSTALL L. H., ROSSMOORE H. W. Induction and characteristics of staphylococcal L forms. Can J Microbiol. 1961 Oct;7:705–713. doi: 10.1139/m61-084. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. PERKINS H. R. Chemical structure and biosynthesis of bacterial cell walls. Bacteriol Rev. 1963 Mar;27:18–55. doi: 10.1128/br.27.1.18-55.1963. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. SCHONFELD J. K. "L" forms of Staphylococcus. II. Studies on the morphology of the transformation and on the reversibility. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 1961;27:139–150. doi: 10.1007/BF02538434. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. SHARP J. T. The cell wall of bacterial L forms and pleuropneumonialike organisms. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1960 Jan 15;79:344–355. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1960.tb42695.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. SHOCKMAN G. D., LAMPEN J. O. Inhibition by antibiotics of the growth of bacterial and yeast protoplasts. J Bacteriol. 1962 Sep;84:508–512. doi: 10.1128/jb.84.3.508-512.1962. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. STROMINGER J. L., THRENN R. H. The optical configuration of the alanine residues in a uridine nucleotide and in the cell wall of Staphylococcus aureus. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1959 May;33(1):280–281. doi: 10.1016/0006-3002(59)90538-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. WARD J. R., MADOFF S., DIENES L. In vitro sensitivity of some bacteria, their L forms and pleuropneumonia-like organisms to antibiotics. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1958 Jan;97(1):132–135. doi: 10.3181/00379727-97-23667. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. WITTLER R. G., MALIZIA W. F., KRAMER P. E., TUCKETT J. D., PRITCHARD H. N., BAKER H. J. Isolation of a Corynebacterium and its transitional forms from a case of subacute bacterial endocarditis treated with antibiotics. J Gen Microbiol. 1960 Oct;23:315–333. doi: 10.1099/00221287-23-2-315. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES