Absence of circular plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid attributable to a genetic determinant for methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus.

Plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid was not detected by centrifugal analysis of lysates of penicillinase-negative strains of Staphylococcus aureus harboring a determinant of methicillin resistance derived from strain Villaluz. When these strains contained a penicillinase plasmid, the plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible strains was indistinguishable by the methods employed. The results indicate that the genetic determinant for methicillin resistance in the strains examined was not associated with a circular plasmid comparable to those that have been shown to determine resistance to benzylpenicillin, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol in S. aureus.