The role of penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP 3) in cefotaxime resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae.

A pneumococcal strain, with a reduced amount of penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP 3), permitted an analysis of the role of this protein in cefotaxime resistance. We observed that reduced amounts of PBP 3 sensitize the bacteria to high temperature, to excess glycine and to some D-amino acids. These phenotypes suggest that the amount of PBP 3 may influence the membrane properties of the bacteria. The strain with reduced PBP 3 was transformed to cefotaxime resistance. We show that the PBP 3 mutation, in certain genetic backgrounds, decreases the level of resistance to cefotaxime by a factor of 2. Models are presented to explain this result.