Specificity of Penicillin Amidases

Abstract

A series of penicillins have been tested for splitting by amidases from several sources. The two distinct types as postulated by Rolinson et al.(5) were demonstrated. In addition, the amidases of bacterial origin showed a further specificity in that synthetic penicillins containing a carboxyl group on the side chain were not hydrolyzed. Methicillin, cephalosporin N, and cephalosporin C were not split by any of the amidases tested. In the case of the latter two antibiotics, the common side chain may account for the lack of activity.