The membrane penicillinase (penicillin amido-beta-lactamhydrolase, EC 3.5.2.6) from Bacillus licheniformis, the Semliki Forest virus spike proteins, and the Sendai virus glycoproteins have each been isolated as soluble protein aggregates that are virtually free of lipid and detergent. The sedimentation coefficients of the complexes were 18 S, 29 S, and 43 S, respectively. Mixed aggregates conta...

Cephalosporin C, a hydrophilic, penicillin-like antibiotic which is insensitive to penicillinase, is much less active than benzylpenicillin against the Oxford strain of Staphylococcus aureus but much more active than benzylpenicillin against a penicillinase-producing strain of S. aureus (D3R). When used together, cephalosporin C and benzylpenicillin act synergistically against S . aureus strain...

The effects of various factors on the release of penicillinase from apparently undamaged cells of a growing culture of Bacillus subtilis were investigated. The enzyme was not eluted from the cells by treating them with high concentrations of salt. Its liberation did not take place at all a t Oo, and was nearly completely inhibited a t pH values below 6.0, whereas chloramphenicol, at concentrati...

Penicillinase production and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of penicillin G, amoxycillin, doxycycline, and spectinomycin were studied for 155 gonococcal strains isolated in Fukuoka, Japan, between April and December 1981. Of 155 isolates, 25 (16.1%) strains were identified as penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG) by a rapid iodometric test. The antibiotic sensitivity of...

On alkaline hydrolysis, penicillins are converted into penicilloic acids (1). Penicillinase appears to bring about the same transformation, in which a carboxyl group of pK 4.7 is generated (2). Foster (3) allowed penicillinase to act on penicillin in bicarbonate buffer in the Warburg respirometer and observed the evolution of COZ. Since such a reaction can be followed simply and with considerab...

The epidemiological features are described of an outbreak of gonorrhoea caused by penicillinase-producing strains of gonococci in 76 patients in Liverpool between February and November 1976. Initially infections were confined to a socially deprived inner city area with a large immigrant population, and subsequent spread of infection remained circumscribed. The characteristics of those patients ...

The in vitro susceptibilities of 22 penicillinase-producing and 32 non-penicillinase-producing strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to 13 antimicrobial agents, including the new semisynthetic penicillins and cephalosporins, are reported. Ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, and cefotaxime were the most active agents tested; none of them had an MIC of greater than 0.03 micrograms/ml. Amoxycillin plus clavulani...

The effects of two methods of inoculum preparation (the opacity standard method and a template method) and three different types of media on the penicillin, tetracycline, spectinomycin, and erythromycin MICs for 191 non-penicillinase-producing, 49 penicillinase-producing, and 5 tetracycline-resistant isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae were evaluated. Three World Health Organization reference str...

The membrane penicillinase ofBacillus licheniformis 7491 C differs from the exopenicillinase in that it has an additional 24 amino acid residues and a phosphatidylserine at the NH* terminus (Yamamoto, S., and Lampen, J. 0. (1976) J. Biol. Chem. 251, 4095-4101). The conversion of the membrane penicillinase to the exo form is probably carried out by a specific penicillinase-releasing protease (PR...