Effect of mecillinam on peptidoglycan synthesis during the division cycle of Salmonella typhimurium 2616

J Licht, David Gally, T Henderson, K Young, S. Cooper

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

The effects of mecillinam, ampicillin and cephalexin on peptidoglycan synthesis in Salmonella typhimurium 2616 have been studied at equivalent concentrations or "isoactivities". Using antibiotics at isoactivities allows a direct comparison of the biochemical effects of different antibiotics. When mecillinam was added at different times during the division cycle at a concentration that produced 50% inhibition of peptidoglycan synthesis in an exponential culture over a short period of time, the inhibition of synthesis was greatest in the newborn cells and least in the dividing cells. Antibiotic competition experiments showed that mecillinam preferentially bound to penicillin-binding protein 2 in S. typhimurium 2616. High performance liquid chromatography analysis of the residual peptidoglycan synthesized in the presence of mecillinam showed an unexpected increase in pentapeptides and a significant increase in cross-linking. Other antibiotics added at equivalent activities did not show an increase in cross-linking.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)423-33
Number of pages11
JournalResearch in microbiology
Volume144
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - Jul 1993

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Amdinocillin/pharmacology
  • Ampicillin/pharmacology
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Carrier Proteins
  • Cell Division/drug effects
  • Cephalexin/pharmacology
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Depression, Chemical
  • Hexosyltransferases/metabolism
  • Multienzyme Complexes/metabolism
  • Muramoylpentapeptide Carboxypeptidase
  • Penicillin-Binding Proteins
  • Peptidoglycan/analysis
  • Peptidoglycan/biosynthesis
  • Peptidyl Transferases/metabolism
  • Salmonella typhimurium/cytology
  • Salmonella typhimurium/drug effects
  • Salmonella typhimurium/metabolism

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