Selection of resistance to glycopeptide antibiotics in staphylococci

Clinical strains belonging to ten Staphylococcus species were investigated for their abilities to develop single-step resistance in vitro to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Surviving clones were only recovered from strains of three species, namely S. aureus, S. epidermidis, and S. haemolyticus. A similar ratio of grown to plated cells (approximately 1 x 10(-8)) was mostly obtained from strains of S. aureus and S. epidermidis. Higher ratios (1 x 10(-6) to 1 x 10(-7)) were obtained from strains of S. haemolyticus, especially when exposed to teicoplanin. When tested for susceptibility, many survivors exhibited vancomycin and teicoplanin minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) below the drug concentration used for in vitro selection, probably due to an inoculum effect in the plating procedure. However, MICs were particularly high in many clones of S. haemolyticus (up to 12.8 microg/ml for vancomycin, and > or = 102.4 microg/ml for teicoplanin).