The Production of Penicillins in Soils and Seeds by Penicillium chrysogenum and the Role of Penicillin β-Lactamase in the Ecology of Soil Bacillus
Hill, P.,, 70, 243-252 (1972),
doi = https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-70-2-243,
publicationName = Microbiology Society,
issn = 1350-0872,
abstract= SUMMARY: A sensitive, small-scale assay for penicillin showed the production of penicillin in sterilized but otherwise unsupplemented soils inoculated with a wild-type Penicillium chrysogenum. The same Penicillium was capable of competitively invading maize seeds equilibrated at 95 % relative humidity, and producing penicillin in the seed. Problems with gross contamination of some batches of seeds were overcome by the use of surface-sterilization. The hypothesis that the natural function of β-lactamase is the detoxification of penicillins has been tested by measuring the survival or growth of mixtures of micro- and magno-constitutive β-lactamase-producing Bacillus cereus in an environment containing naturally produced penicillins. The magno-constitutive strain had a clear survival advantage which was abolished or greatly reduced if minute quantities of purified β-lactamase were added, in which case the micro-constitutive seemed at a slight advantage.,
language=,
type=