R-factor-mediated resistance to tetracycline in Proteus mirabilis.

The expression of R-factor-mediated resistance to tetracycline has been compared in Proteus mirabilis and Escherichia coli. Resistance to a range of concentrations of tetracycline was significantly lower in P. mirabilis than in E. coli in both induced and repressed states. Indirect evidence showed that conditions which result in a marked increase in the level of resistance of P. mirabilis harboring the R factor NR1 to chloramphenicol, streptomycin, and spectinomycin due to an amplification in the number of copies of r-determinants per cell do not detectably increase the level of resistance to tetracycline. Tetracycline resistance was inducible in early stationary-phase P. mirabilis NR1 although not after 5 h in this state. Double isotope labeling of control and tetracycline-induced P. mirabilis NR1 in early stationary phase revealed isotopic enrichment of certain peaks in extracts from induced cells subjected to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.