Differences in susceptibility to quinolones of outer membrane mutants of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli

Abstract

The mechanism of penetration of quinolones through the bacterial outer membrane was studied with lipopolysaccharide-deficient and porin-deficient mutants. The data indicated that the lipopolysaccharide layer might form a permeability barrier for hydrophobic quinolones such as nalidixic acid but not for hydrophilic quinolones such as norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin. The results also showed that quinolones with a low relative hydrophobicity appeared to permeate through OmpF porin, whereas quinolones with a low relative hydrophobicity appeared to permeate through OmpF porin, whereas quinolones with a high relative hydrophobicity appeared to permeate through both OmpF porin and phospholipid bilayers.