THE MODE OF ANTIBACTERIAL ACTION OF NITROFURAN COMPOUNDS

Abstract

The antibacterial activity of two nitrofurans, 3-dihydroxymethylamino-6- [2- (5-nitro-2-furyl) vinyl] -1, 2, 4-triazine (Panfuran-S : FT) and 2-[2-(5-nitro-2-furyl) vinyl] -quinoline (NFQ) was examined. The experimental results determining growth rates, viable counts (Fig. 1, 2, 4, and 5), and biomacromolecules (Fig. 3 and 6) in the presence of the nitrofurans suggested that the potent growth inhibitory action of these drugs againstEscherichia coliQ13 orStaphylococcus aureusE642-1 could apparently be associated with the interference of DNA synthesis. Mutants ofE. coli, such as the DNA polymerase I-deficient mutantPolAl and the recombination-deficient mutant rec A13, exhibited much higher sensitivity to the nitrofurans than the corresponding parent strains did (Fig. 7, Table 2 and 3). The results indicate the close relationship between the mechanism of inhibition by the nitrofurans and the ability to repair the DNA damage caused by these drugs in the bacterial strains.