Antibiotic resistance plasmids from Serratia marcescens and their elimination by DNA-gyrase inhibitors

We studied the effects of ciprofloxacin on 73 strains of Serratia marcescens. In the first place, we have tested their plasmidic content: 76% of Serratia marcescens strains contained plasmids by electrophoresis, and 29% of these plasmids were self-transmissible by conjugation. Secondly, we studied the plasmid stability with regard to ciprofloxacin. We obtained a spontaneous cure with 19% of plasmids, and ciprofloxacin, at very low concentrations (0.4 mg/l), increased the rate of cure and more efficiently than novobiocin, a compound used as a known curing agent.