This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kingsbury, D. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kingsbury, D. T.

Relationship Between Sulfadiazine Resistance and the Failure to Ferment Maltose in Neisseria meningitidis

¹ Department of Microbiology, Naval Medical Research Institute, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland 20014

ABSTRACT

The genetic marker for sulfadiazine resistance was transferred by means of purified deoxyribonucleic acid from sulfadiazine-resistant Neisseria meningitidis and N. perflava to a sulfadiazine-sensitive strain of N. meningitidis. Over 80% of the isolates from these experiments, selected on the basis of sulfadiazine resistance, failed to produce acid from maltose. The same proportion of naturally occurring isolates that are sulfadiazine-resistant failed to ferment maltose. The enzymatic block in 17 isolates tested was the loss of maltose permease activity; in two cases, maltose phosphorylase activity was lost also. The permease was present in these cells, however, and could be activated by the addition of sulfadiazine. The results obtained support the hypothesis that these organisms, in becoming resistant to sulfadiazine, have undergone a single mutation.