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Two Different Mechanisms Are Involved in the Extremely High‐Level Benzalkonium Chloride Resistance of a Pseudomonas fluorescens Strain
Author(s) -
Nagai Katsuhiro,
Murata Takahiro,
Ohta Shin,
Zenda Hiroshi,
Ohnishi Makoto,
Hayashi Tetsuya
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.2003.tb03440.x
Subject(s) - benzalkonium chloride , efflux , strain (injury) , pseudomonas fluorescens , microbiology and biotechnology , ammonium chloride , cationic polymerization , biology , ammonium , pseudomonas aeruginosa , pseudomonadales , bacteria , chemistry , biochemistry , chromatography , organic chemistry , genetics , anatomy
A Pseudomonas fluorescens strain, PFRB, which we previously isolated as a contaminant in a batch of benzalkonium chloride (BAC) stock solution, exhibits high‐level resistance, not only to BAC, but also to other cationic surfactants belonging to disinfectants classified as quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs). In this study, we analyzed the resistance mechanism of the strain to BAC and other disinfectants. We obtained results suggesting that two different mechanisms, reduced adsorption of BAC to the cell surface and an energy‐dependent mechanism which is most probably an efflux system, were implicated in the high‐level resistance to BAC. Reduced adsorption of BAC is likely due to the decreased negative cell surface charge of the strain. The putative efflux system seems to be unique in that it excretes only a certain range of cationic membrane‐acting disinfectants belonging to QACs.