Skip to content
1887

Microbiology Society logo Microbiology

Volume 66, Issue 2

Increased Resistance to Several Antibiotics by One Mutation in an R-factor, R 1a Free

Abstract

SUMMARY: An Hfr strain G11 and an F strain D1 of K 12 both containing the R-factor R 1a were treated with ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS). Mutation of the bacteria to high ampicillin resistance occurred at a frequency of 10 to 10 and it was coupled with a simultaneous increase in resistance to chloramphenicol, streptomycin and sulphanilamide. Resistance to all the antibiotics was infective. Increased ampicillin resistance was due to increased penicillinase activity of the bacteria. In a strain containing a mutant R-factor (R1 B1) this was due to an increased quantity of an enzyme that seemed to be identical to that of a strain containing the unmutated R 1a. Metabolism of chloramphenicol in strains containing R1 B1 was greater than in those with R 1a. Mating experiments with an Hfr strain carrying R 1a or R1 B1 revealed that the two R-factors reduced fertility to about the same extent. Pair formation was two to three times greater in the presence of R1 B1 than in the presence of R 1a, and R-factor transfer was increased more than chromosome transfer. It is likely that the R 1a genome is read two to three times more efficiently in strains containing the mutated R1 B1, perhaps due to an increased number of copies of the R-factor genome per bacterium.

  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
© Society for General Microbiology 1971
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-66-2-205
1971-05-01
2025-01-23
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/micro/66/2/mic-66-2-205.html?itemId=/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-66-2-205&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Anderson E. S. 1968; The ecology of transferable drug resistance in the Enterobacteria. Annual Review of Microbiology 22:131–180
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Bertani G. 1951; Studies on lysogenesis. I. The mode of phage liberation by lysogenic Escherichia coli. Journal of Bacteriology 62:293–300
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Boman H. G., Eriksson-Grennberg K. G., Földes J., Lindström B. 1967; The regulation and possible evolution of a penicillinase-like enzyme in Escherichia coli.. In Regulation of Nucleic Acid and Protein Biosynthesis vol 10 pp 366–372 Edited by Koningsberger V. V., Bosch L. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Co;
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Boman H. G., Eriksson-Grennberg K. G., Normark S., Matsson E. 1968; Resistance of Escherichia coli to penicillins. IV. Genetic study of mutants resistant to dl-ampicillin concentration of 100 µg./ml. Genetical Research 12:169–185
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Burman L. G., Nordström K., Boman H. G. 1968; Resistance of Escherichia coli to penicillins. V. Physiological comparison of two isogenic strains, one with chromosomally and one with episomally mediated ampicillin resistance. Journal of Bacteriology 96:438–446
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Campbell A. M. 1969 Episomes New York: Harper & Row;
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Datta N. 1965; Infectious drug resistance. British Medical Bulletin 21:254–259
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Eriksson-Grennberg K. G. 1968; Resistance of Escherichia coli to penicillins. II. An improved mapping of the ampA gene. Genetical Research 12:147–156
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Eriksson-Grennberg K. G., Boman H. G., Jansson J. A. T., Thorén S. 1965; Resistance of Escherichia coli to penicillins. I. Genetic study of some ampicillin-resistant mutants. Journal of Bacteriology 90:54–62
     [Google Scholar]
  10. De Haan P. G., Gross J. D. 1962; Transfer delay and chromosome withdrawal during conjugation in Escherichia coli. Genetical Research 3:251–272
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Lindqvist R. C., Nordström K. 1970; Resistance of Escherichia coli to penicillins. VII. Purification and characterization of the penicillinase mediated by the R-factor R1. Journal of Bacteriology 101:232–239
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Lindström B., Boman H. G., Steele B. 1970; Resistance of Escherichia coli to penicillins. VI. Purification and characterization of the chromosomally mediated penicillinase present in ampA containing strains. Journal of Bacteriology 101:218–231
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Meynell E., Datta N. 1966; The relation of resistance transfer factors to the F-factor (sex-factor) of Escherichia coli k 12. Genetical Research 7:134–140
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Meynell E., Datta N. 1967; Mutant drug-resistant factors of high transmissibility. Nature, London 214:885–887
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Meynell E., Meynell G. G., Datta N. 1967; Phylogenetic relationship of drug resistance factors and other transmissible bacterial plasmids. Bacteriological Reviews 32:55–83
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Nordström K. 1969; A mutated R-factor mediating increased resistance to several antibiotics. Society for General Microbiology 57:xxxi–xxxii
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Nordström K., Burman L. G., Eriksson-Grennberg K. G. 1969; Resistance of Escherichia coli to penicillins. VIII. Physiology of a class II ampicillin-resistant mutant. Journal of Bacteriology 101:659–668
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Nordström K., Eriksson-Grennberg K. G., Boman H. G. 1968; Resistance of Escherichia coli to penicillins. III. AmpB, a locus affecting episomally and chromosomally mediated resistance to ampicillin and chloramphenicol. Genetical Research 12:157–168
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Novick R. P. 1962; Micro-iodometric assay for penicillinase. Biochemical Journal 83:236–240
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Okamoto S., Suzuki J. 1965; Chloramphenicol, dihydrostreptomycin and kanamycin inactivating enzymes from multiple drug-resistant E. coli carrying episome ‘R’. Nature, London 208:1301–1303
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Pearce L. E., Meynell E. 1968; Mutation to high-level streptomycin resistance in R+ bacteria. Society for General Microbiology 50:173–176
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Rownd R., Nakaya R., Nakamura A. 1966; Molecular nature of the drug resistance factors of the Enterobacteriaceae. Journal of Molecular Biology 17:376–393
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Sompolinsky D., Ben-Yakov M., Aboud M., Boldur I. 1967; Transferable resistance factors with mutator effect in Salmonella typhi. Mutation Research 4:119–127
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Stent G. S., Brenner S. 1961; A genetic locus for the regulation of ribonucleic acid synthesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 47:2005–2014
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Vogel H. J., Bonner D. M. 1956; Acetylomithase of Escherichia coli partial purification and some properties. Journal of Biological Chemistry 218:97–106
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Watanabe T. 1963; Infective heredity of multiple drug resistance in bacteria. Bacteriological Reviews 27:87–115
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Watanabe T. 1967; Evolutionary relationships of R-factors with other episomes and plasmids. Federation Proceedings. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 26:23–28
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Yost H. Y. Jun., Chaleff R. S., Finerty J. P. 1967; Induction of mitotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by ethylmethane sulphonate. Nature, London 215:660–661
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-66-2-205
Loading
Increased Resistance to Several Antibiotics by One Mutation in an R-factor, R 1a
Microbiology 66, 205 (1971); https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-66-2-205
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-66-2-205
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-66-2-205
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Most cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error