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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

A Tandem Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry-based Approach for Metabolite Analysis of Staphylococcus aureus
Published on: March 28, 2017
PARA-AMINOBENZOIC ACID PRODUCTION BY STAPHYLOCOCCI
W W Spink1, L D Wright, J J Vivino
1Division of Internal Medicine, University of Minnesota Hospitals and Medical School, Minneapolis, and the Medical-Research Division, Sharp and Dohme, Inc., Glenolden, Pennsylvania.
Abstract:
1. Strains of staphylococci produce diazotizable materials which can be converted to a dye, and the intensity of the color reaction can be quantitated in the same manner as p-aminobenzoic acid. The sulfonamide-resistant strains which we have studied produce more diazotizable substance than non-resistant strains. 2. The development of a color by the diazotizable substance can be inhibited by exposing the substance to a soil bacillus (Mirick) specifically adapted to oxidize PABA. 3. The diazotizable substance produced by staphylococci inhibits the anti-staphylococcic action of sodium sulfathiazole to approximately the same degree as equivalent amounts of pure p-aminobenzoic acid. 4. Two microbiological methods for assaying p-aminobenzoic acid were employed for quantitating the amount of this material produced by staphylococci. In general, the sulfonamide-resistant strains produced more p-aminobenzoic acid than the sulfonamide-sensitive strains. The inconstant results obtained with these biological assays are discussed.
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