Antibiotic, detergent, and complement sensitivity of Salmonella typhi after ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid treatment.

Antimicrobial substances, including antibiotics such as polymyxin and novobiocin, detergents, and complement, all of which are known or presumed to have an effect upon membrane permeability, showed greater potency against ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-treated Salmonella typhi than against untreated cells of that organism. The differential effect was particularly marked with the complement system when serum antibody was limiting. EDTA-treated cells were also more susceptible to penicillin and bacitracin. On the other hand, such treatment did not affect the potency against S. typhi of mitomycin C, the aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol, and chlortetracycline, nor did it affect the permeability of S. typhi to these compounds.