Abstract
PREVIOUS reports have shown that penicillinase (β-lactamase) is not an inducible enzyme in strains of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella and Aerobacter; but Proteus species have not been investigated1–3. There is also a species variation in penicillinase activity with different substrates3. Cephalosporinase activity has been described in many species of gram-negative bacilli4 and is associated with cephalosporin resistance in Proteus species5. In the work recorded here, inducibility of Cephalosporinase and penicillinase was investigated in strains of Proteus morgani, P. vulgaris, P. rettgeri and P. mirabilis. The strains were all resistant to ampicillin ((D(–)α-aminophenylacetamido)-penicillanic acid) and cephalothin ((7-thiophene-2-acet-amido)-cephalosporanic acid), apart from P. mirabilis which was sensitive to cephalothin. Many strains of P. mirabilis are also sensitive to ampicillin, but these were not included in the present investigation as they either inactivate benzylpenicillin or cephalosporin slowly or not at all.
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AYLIFFE, G. Induction of Cephalosporinase and Penicillinase in Proteus Species. Nature 201, 1032 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/2011032a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2011032a0
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