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JAC Advance Access published online on September 20, 2002
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, doi:10.1093/jac/dkf180
© 2002 by The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
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© 2002 The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

Original Paper

Differences in the susceptibility of Streptococcus pyogenes to rokitamycin and erythromycin A revealed by morphostructural atomic force microscopy

Pier Carlo Braga 1* Davide Ricci 2

1 Centre of Respiratory Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Milan, Via Vanvitelli 32, 20129 Milano
2 Department of Biophysical Electronic Engineering, University of Genoa, Italy

* Corresponding author. E-mail: piercarlo.braga{at}unimi.it.

Received 13 November 2001 ; revised 27 May 2002 ; accepted 17 July 2002

Abstract

The aim of this study was to use atomic force microscopy (AFM), an innovative type of microscopy, to investigate the different behaviours of erythromycin A (a 14-membered ring) and rokitamycin (a 16-membered ring) in disrupting the morphology of Streptococcus pyogenes with the M phenotype. AFM scanning and sensing of the topography of a sample makes it possible to obtain simultaneous high-resolution digital measurements of the x, y and z coordinates at any point on the bacteria surface. The images obtained before and 2, 4 and 6 h after incubation with erythromycin A (32 mg/L) and rokitamycin (2 mg/L) clearly show that not even high concentrations of erythromycin A interfere with the M phenotype of S. pyogenes, whereas rokitamycin has a progressive action that leads to the formation of abnormally large cells, the loosening of chain structure and the formation of clusters.

Keywords: atomic force microscopy, Streptococcus pyogenes M phenotype, erythromycin A, rokitamycin
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