The Mechanism of Resistance to Sulfonamides

Abstract

S. aureus forms arylamines in varying amts. These arylamines result from the oxidation of tryptophane. This was demonstrated 1) by the absence of arylamine formation during growth in casein hydrolysate or synthetic media free from tryptophane and glucose, 2) upon progressively increasing the tryptophane conc. a corresponding increase in arylamine formation occurred. The following observations show that these arylamines are not essential metabolites: 1) Arylamine formation was not proportional to growth; in fact, the greatest arylamine to growth ratios occurred under conditions of minimal growth. 2) Arylamine formation was absent when heavier growth occurred in the presence of certain carbohydrates such as l-arabinose and d-galactose. Arylamines are produced in the presence of glucose in tryptophane-free media. Tryptophane apparently is synthesized in the presence of glucose. Continuous transplantation upon extract agar resulted in a progressive increase in the capacity of these strains to produce arylamine.