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SPONTANEOUS LOSS OF RESISTANCE TO KANAMYCIN AND OTHER ANTIBIOTICS IN METHICILLIN‐RESISTANT CULTURES OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS
Author(s) -
Annear D. I.,
Grubb W. B.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1969.tb107490.x
Subject(s) - kanamycin , lincomycin , spiramycin , microbiology and biotechnology , staphylococcus aureus , antibiotics , neomycin , macrolide antibiotics , biology , antibiotic resistance , plasmid , erythromycin , bacteria , genetics , dna
Studies have been made on a methicillin‐resistant and kanamycin‐resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus which was found to yield kanamycinsensitive variants spontaneously and with high frequency. This phenomenon was demonstrated consistently for 50 serial subcultures of the resistant variant, and extensive testing of the kanamycinsensitive variants failed to reveal any reversion to kanamycin resistance. The sensitivity of the kanamycin‐resistant and sensitive variants to a wide range of antibiotics has been measured, and the loss of kanamycin resistance found to be associated with loss of resistance to neomycin, framycetin, erythromycin, spiramycin, and lincomycin. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the resistant determinants for these antibiotics are on a single extrachromosomal element, possibly a plasmid. The epidemiological implications of these findings are discussed.