[Transfer of plasmid bacteriocinogenicity during the growth process of a population of staphylococci]

Staphylococcus epidermidis strain No. 17 containing the bacteriocinogenicity plasmid and incapable of the spontaneous loss of this plasmid was studied. When the contact between the dividing cells was broken by shaking, the cells without the plasmid were shown to appear in the population starting from the 30th minute of cultivation. In all cases the loss of the plasmid due to the action of acridine orange at 37 degrees C and 44 degrees C, as well as in cultivation at 44 degrees C, occurred more frequently when the growing population was shaken than in the absence of shaking. This suggests the possibility of transferring the plasmid controlling bacteriocinogenicity in the process of the growth of staphylococcal population.