MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN GRAM-NEGATIVE BACILLI EXPOSED TO CEPHALOTHIN

Abstract

Chang, Te-Wen (Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.), and Louis Weinstein . Morphological changes in gram-negative bacilli exposed to cephalothin. J. Bacteriol. 88: 1790–1797. 1964.—Exposure of gram-negative bacteria to cephalothin (7-[thiophene-2-acetamido]-cephalosporanic acid) revealed the formation of long filaments and large bodies, which were capable of reverting to normal cells when removed from contact with the drug. The degree of morphological change was found to be related to the concentration of antibiotic in which the organisms were suspended. The large bodies were altered by contact with solutions of varying osmolarity. Different species showed variation in the ability to develop large bodies. A relationship between antibiotic sensitivity and the capacity to resist morphological alteration was observed. Though most sensitive gram-negative bacilli were strikingly changed by exposure to cephalothin, naturally resistant ones were unaffected. Organisms made drug-resistant in vitro underwent changes in cellular form which were qualitatively the same but less intense than those which developed in parent strains originally sensitive to cephalothin.