H. Delencastre et al., GENETIC-CONTROL OF POPULATION-STRUCTURE IN HETEROGENEOUS STRAINS OF METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS, European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases, 12, 1993, pp. 13-18
Cultures of heterogeneous strains of methicillin resistant Staphylococ
cus aureus are composed of several subpopulations of cells that differ
in their level of antibiotic resistance and frequencies. Experimental
evidence is presented indicating that the number of these subpopulati
ons, their resistance level and the frequency with which they are repr
esented in a culture are strain-specific and reproducible with a surpr
ising degree of precision from one culture to another. This implies a
genetic control of population structure in these bacteria.