Response of Pseudomonas cepacia to beta-Lactam antibiotics: utilization of penicillin G as the carbon source

Abstract

Pseudomonas cepacia utilized penicillin G as the sole source of carbon and energy. We report here an unexplained correlation between lysine auxotrophy and ,8-lactamase deficiency, resulting in loss of capacity to utilize penicillin. Pseudomonas cepacia (P. multivorans) is recognized as the most nutritionally versatile of the pseudomonads (1, 11). As we report here it includes penicillin G (Pen) in its repertoire of utilizable substrates. All wild-type strains of P. cepacia we examined and certain strains of P. marginata and P. caryophylli utilized penicillin G (benzylpenicillin) as the sole source of carbon and energy (see Table 1 for a list of representative strains). The same strains failed to exhibit significant growth with the benzylpenicillin derivatives ampicillin or carbenicillin, but were resistant to these antibiotics. P. cepacia 249, the strain we studied in greatest detail, grew with a mean generation time of 6.5 h in inorganic salts medium containing 2% (wt/vol) penicillin G as the sole carbon source. Neither the closely related P. pickettii (9, 10) strains listed in Table 1 nor the less closely related pseudomonads P. aeruginosa PU21-(RP1) llv-Penr (obtained from G.

Burkholderia cepacia complex genomovars: utilization of carbon sources, susceptibility to antimicrobial agents and growth on selective media

“…The carbon source choice was limited to unusual compounds reportedly utilized by B. cepacia , e.g. penicillin G (Beckman and Lessie 1979) and phtalate (Atlas 1993), and compounds having a differentiating value within the nonfermentative Gram‐negative bacteria, e.g. l ‐arabinose, d ‐cellobiose, d ‐trehalose, d ‐fucose, azelaic acid, salicin, tryptamine and l ‐threonin (Stanier et al.…”

“…Based on previous findings (Stanier et al. 1966; Gilardi 1973; Beckman and Lessie 1979; Gillis et al. 1995) 10 less common carbon sources, reportedly utilized by B. cepacia , were tested: azelaic acid (Fluka Chemie, Buchs, Switzerland), l ‐arabinose (Fluka), d ‐cellobiose (Acros Organics, Geel, Belgium), d ‐fucose (Sigma, St Louis, MO, USA), penicillin G (Sigma), phtalate (Sigma), salicin (Fluka), l ‐threonin (Fluka), d ‐trehalose (Acros), tryptamine (Sigma).…”

Sensitivity of the Burkholderia cepacia complex and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to transducing bacteriophages

“…In the 1960s, seminal taxonomic studies by Stanier and colleagues [2] highlighted the organism's extraordinary metabolic ability to degrade a wide range of organic compounds. Inherent resistance to antibiotics and survival in nutritionally limited environments were also exempli¢ed by the organism's use of penicillin G as a sole carbon source [3] and its role as a major bacterial contaminant of space shuttle water supplies [4] and bottled drinking water [5].…”

Virulence factors of Burkholderia cepacia

“…Based on nucleic acid homology, B. cepacia is more closely related to B. pseudomallei, B. mallei and B. gladioli than to P. aeruginosa and other fluorescent pseudomonads, and was placed in the separate subgroup, Pseudomonas RNA homology group II. B. cepacia is nutritionally versatile, with minimal growth requirements and the ability to survive in unfavourable environments: it has been isolated from disinfectants and antiseptics and can even use penicillin G as a nutrient [8][9][10][11]. The organism is intrinsically resistant to most antibiotics, and even if individual strains show in vitro susceptibility to an antibiotic, there is little clinical response [10,[12][13][14][15].…”