Genetic Studies of Kanamycin Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

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Attempts to isolate directly kanamycin resistant transductants in Staphylococcus aureus were unsuccessful, although genes determining heme synthesis could be transduced. Use of the replica plating method, however, gave evidence that kanamycin resistance had been co-transduced along with the genes controlling the production of heme-containing enzymes of the electron transport system. In the presence of kanamycin, bacteriophage was unable to produce plaques on phage-susceptible cells, and this antiphage effect of kanamycin was probably a reason why the direct transduction of kanamycin resistance was not detected, although many attempts and variations in the procedure were made. Treatment of a kanamycin resistant culture of S. aureus with acridine orange or ethidium bromide indicated that kanamycin resistance was conferred by a chromosomal factor.