The inhibition of mucopeptide synthesis by benzylpenicillin in relation to irreversible fixation of the antibiotic by staphylococci

1. Benzylpenicillin is irreversibly fixed to staphyloccoci by a reaction that obeys second-order kinetics, whereas the progress of inhibition of mucopeptide synthesis obeys first-order kinetics after a short lag during which the antibiotic has no effect. 2. When the micro-organisms are saturated with benzylpenicillin they can still make mucopeptide in solutions containing chloramphenicol at a normal rate after a lag period. 3. About 90% of the benzylpenicillin stays fixed to the cells after mucopeptide synthesis has reached its maximum and constant rate. 4. During the phase when mucopeptide synthesis by cells saturated with benzylpenicillin is accelerating, a small number of additional sites that fix benzylpenicillin is revealed. The number of these sites reaches a maximum and constant value at about the same time as mucopeptide biosynthesis reaches a maximum and constant rate. 5. Staphylococci saturated with benzylpenicillin are exceedingly sensitive to fresh additions of the antibiotic. 6. The degree of inhibition of mucopeptide synthesis caused by these small amounts of antibiotic agrees with the degree of substitution by benzylpenicillin of the newly revealed or `sensitive' sites. 7. Since these sensitive sites are revealed during incubation of the bacteria with chloramphenicol it is unlikely that they are due to newly formed protein. 8. On the basis of these results, a hypothesis for the inhibition by penicillin of the cross-linking reaction in the terminal stages of mucopeptide synthesis is suggested.