Lm. Reese et al., SENSITIVITY OF ESCHERICHIA-COLI TO PROLINE ANALOGS DURING OSMOTIC-STRESS AND ANAEROBIOSIS, Letters in applied microbiology, 22(3), 1996, pp. 202-205
The sensitivity of wild-type Escherichia coli K-12 to a series of prol
ine analogues was determined in cultures containing increasing concent
rations of NaCl under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The bacte
ria were most sensitive to L-azetidine-2-carboxylate and L-thiazolidin
e-4-carboxylate. The minimum inhibitory concentrations for these compo
unds decreased progressively during osmotic stress, but the bacteria w
ere much more sensitive to these proline analogues under aerobic condi
tions than during anaerobiosis. The reduced sensitivity under anaerobi
c conditions did not reflect degradation of the compounds in the cultu
re medium. Since both urine and medullary renal tissue contain relativ
ely low oxygen concentrations, these results raise doubts about the po
tential use of proline or glycine betaine analogues in treating urinar
y tract infections.