Effect of ethambutol on the viable cell count in Mycobacterium smegmatis

Soon after a strain of Mycobacterium smegmatis was exposed to ethambutol (EMB), the number of viable cells increased dramatically above the number in a drug-free control. This rapid rise did not occur when the culture was maintained at 4 degrees C instead of 37 degrees C, when an EMB-resistant mutant was used, when auxotrophs were exposed in medium lacking nutrients essential for growth, nor when the levo form of EMB was used. EMB caused no increase in deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis, nor in septum formation of dividing cells. Treated cells changed morphologically, resulting in a lower surface area-to-volume ratio. Whereas EMB did not eliminate cell clusters, the cluster size decreased markedly as detected by filtration and Coulter counter measurements. We concluded that EMB causes a reduced surface-to-volume ratio, leading to reduced cell cohesion and a consequent reduction in cluster size, reflected in an increase in colony-forming units.