Transformability of Streptomycin-resistant Group H Streptococci

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Several resistant mutants of a transformable group H streptococcus, strain Challis, were isolated from media containing high concentrations of streptomycin. Mutants SR5a and SR5 exhibited high and low transformability, respectively, when exposed to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from a novobiocin-resistant Challis strain. With similar exposure, mutant SR30 exhibited loss of transformability. The mutants further differed from the parent strain in time of appearance of optimal competence, and, in the case of SR5 and SR30, total growth was somewhat less than that of the parent. The rapidity with which transformants appeared upon initial exposure to DNA was approximately the same in the mutants and the parent strain. The decrease or loss of transformability of mutants SR5 and SR30 was found to be due to an alteration in capacity to take up DNA. Mutant SR5a (highly transformable) was further differentiated from mutants SR5 and SR30 in that it was somewhat more sensitive to high concentrations of streptomycin. Transformants obtained by treating strain Challis with the three types of mutant DNA, on the other hand, exhibited similar degrees of resistance to increasing concentrations of streptomycin. The additional decrease in transforming ability of mutant SR5a and the loss of transforming ability of mutant SR5 after a second exposure to streptomycin may indicate a stepwise process in the change from transformability to nontransformability. Although streptomycin resistance may not be directly related to inability to transform, results indicate that streptomycin greatly increases the chances of selecting these mutants and also can be of value in serving as a marker in studies of this nature.

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