Colicinogeny in local isolates of salmonellae and plasmid transfer studies.

Colicinogeny was determined in local isolates of S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis. Fourteen out of 35 S. typhimurium isolates of hospital origin were colicin producers whereas only one chicken isolate out of 82 S. enteritidis isolates of various origin (human, chicken or egg) produced colicin. A colicin producing, cephalothin (Cpt)- and piperacillin (Prl)-resistant local isolate of Salmonella havana (H32) harbored 4 plasmids of 54.0, 28.4, 2.7 and 1.9 kb. Upon curing its plasmids, the strain lost the ability to produce colicin and resistance to antibiotics and no longer expressed smooth lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The outer membrane protein (OMP) of 34.6 kDa was also lost. Using nalidixic acid (Nal)-resistant mutant of the cured strain in conjugation experiments, 10 out of 27 transconjugants were found to be resistant to Nal and Prl, 10 were resistant to Nal and Cpt and 7 showed Nal, Prl and Cpt resistance. Cpt and Prl resistance were determined by 54.0 and 28.4 kb plasmids, respectively. There was no direct correlation between plasmid contents and colicinogeny, LPS and OMP profiles.