Concurrent morphological and chemical events in Staphylococcus aureus exposed to penicillin.

Disruption and lysis as well as accumulation of cell-wall precursor material have been demonstrated in several strains of Gram-positive cocci as results of the action of penicillin. The concurrence of these phenomena in typically penicillin-sensitive bacteria lends further support to the hypothesis that penicillin exerts its antibiotic action through interference with the formation of cell walls.