Susceptibility of lipopolysaccharide-defective mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO to dyes, detergents, and antibiotics.

Lipopolysaccharide-defective mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO have been isolated on the basis of their resistance to lipopolysaccharide-specific bacteriophages. These mutants have been differentiated by their agglutination in NaCl and acriflavine, phage sensitivity, and chemical analysis of the lipopolysaccharides. The susceptibility of the wild-type strain and four mutants to a series of twenty-six agents, including dyes, detergents, antibiotics, and lysozyme, was examined. The roughest mutant (AK-43) exhibited increased susceptibility to sodium deoxycholate, hexadecylpyridinium chloride, benzalkonium chloride, ampicillin, penicillin G, erythromycin, colymycin, and polymyxin B. The role of cell envelope fractions in antibiotic resistance in P. aeruginosa is discussed.