Chloramphenicol Resistance in Micrococcus pyogenes. II. Intermediary Metabolism of Sensitive and Resistant Strains.

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Abstract
A chloramphenicol-sensitive strain of M. pyogenes (inhibited by 4.5 [mu]g/ml) and a resistant variant developed from it (resistant to 1040 [mu]g/ml) are compared with regard to oxidation of various substrates. The sensitive strain oxidizes glucose, pyruvate and acetate, whereas the resistant strain oxidizes only glucose. The resistant organism has a higher rate of endogenous respiration and forms larger quantities of lactic acid from glucose than does the sensitive strain. Chloramphenicol does not inhibit endogenous respiration or the oxidation of any of the substrates by the sensitive organism. Attempts to reconstitute the pyruvate oxidase system of resistant cells with known cofactors were unsuccessful.