Lysostaphin, an antibiotic that is unique inasmuch as it lyses all strains of Staphylococcus aureus, has been tested against 252 strains obtained from clinical sources. The clinical isolates were phage typed and tested for in vitro susceptibility to lysostaphin and seven other antistaphylococcal antibiotics.The resistant strains, found generally in phage groups I, III, and Insensitive, were most susceptible to vancomycin, lysostaphin, ristocetin, and kanamycin. The antibiotics least effective were penicillin G, tetracycline, phenethicillin, and erythromycin. As an attempt to quantitate the susceptibility of various clinical strains of 5.S. aureus to lysostaphin, a "lysostaphin index" was devised in which, by an arbitrary criterion, the susceptibility of a clinical isolate was related to the sensitivity of S. aureus, strain FDA 209P. It was found that all isolates were lysed by lysostaphin.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.