Further evidence of polyethylene glycol-induced cell fusion of Staphylococcus aureus L-forms

Abstract

Further evidence is presented that on treatment with polyethylene glycol the emergence of doubly drug-resistant recombinants of Staphylococcus aureus L-forms from substrains resistant to streptomycin or erythromycin only is really due to cell fusion, and not to other genetic transfer mechanisms. The reason for the necessity of enrichment culture is also discussed.