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LONG-TERM STARVATION-INDUCTED LOSS OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN BACTERIA
Citation:
Griffiths, R., C. Moyer, B. Caldwell, C. Ye, AND R. Morita. LONG-TERM STARVATION-INDUCTED LOSS OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN BACTERIA. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-90/406 (NTIS PB91171629), 1990.
Description:
Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and a Pseudomonas sp. strain 133B containing the pSa plasmid were starved in well water for up to 523 days. here were two patterns of apparent antibiotic resistance loss observed. n Pseudomonas sp. strain 133B, there was no apparent loss of antibiotic resistance even after starvation for 340 days. n E. coli, by day 49 there was a ten-fold difference between the number of cells that would grow on antibiotic- and nonantibiotic-containing plates. owever, over 76% of the cells that apparently lost their antibiotic resistance were able to express antibiotic resistance after first being resuscitated on non-selective media. y day 523, only 12% of these cells were able to express their antibiotic resistance after being resuscitated. fter starvation for 49 days, cells that could not grow on antibiotic medium even after resuscitation, showed a permanent loss of chloramphenicol (Cm) resistance but retained resistance to kanamycin (Km) and streptomycin (Sm). estriction enzyme digests show that a 2.5 to 3.0 Kb region from map location 12.5 to 15.5 Kb was deleted. his coincides with the 2.5 Kb reduction in plasmid size observed in 3 isolates that had lost antibiotic resistance after starvation for 49 days.
