Mycobacterial cell wall: Structure and role in natural resistance to antibiotics

Mycobacteria show a high degree of intrinsic resistance to most antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents. The low permeability of the mycobacterial cell wall, with its unusual structure, is now known to be a major factor in this resistance. Thus hydrophilic agents cross the cell wall slowly because t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:FEMS microbiology letters 1994-10, Vol.123 (1‐2), p.11-18
Main Authors: Jarlier, Vincent, Nikaido, Hiroshi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteriology
Biological and medical sciences
Cell Wall
Drug Resistance, Microbial
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Microbiology
Models, Biological
Morphology, structure, chemical composition
Mycobacterium - drug effects
Mycobacterium - ultrastructure
Mycolic acid
Myobacterium Cell wall
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Summary:Mycobacteria show a high degree of intrinsic resistance to most antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents. The low permeability of the mycobacterial cell wall, with its unusual structure, is now known to be a major factor in this resistance. Thus hydrophilic agents cross the cell wall slowly because the myobacterial porin is inefficient in allowing the permeation of solutes and exists in low concentration. Lipophilic agents are presumably slowed down by the lipid bilayer which is of unusually low fluidity and abnormal thickness. Nevertheless, the cell wall barrier alone cannot produce significant levels of drug resistance, which requires synergistic contribution from a second factor, such as the enzymatic inactivation of drugs.
ISSN:0378-1097
1574-6968
DOI:10.1111/j.1574-6968.1994.tb07194.x