In vitro response of Enterobacter to ampicillin.

Three strains of Enterobacter were studied for their response to ampicillin. They exhibited a basic level of resistance that depended on the medium used and high-level mutational resistance at a frequency of 10(-5) to 10(-7). Two classes of mutants were selected, one of which showed markedly enhanced antibiotic inactivation as indicated by a biological assay and the other of which resembled the wild type in this regard. Both mutants showed cross-resistance to other beta-lactam antibiotics. The results explained discrepancies between traditional broth dilution minimum inhibitory concentration tests and early read automated procedures.