Studies on bacterial resistance to inhibition and killing by phenol.

Although most investigators agree that the action of phenol is due to some general chemical or physico-chemical mechanism (in recent publications, e.g., lysis of cell walls in gram positive forms, Gale and Taylor, 1947; denaturation of enzyme proteins, Fogg and Lodge, 1945) rather than to a particular metabolic interference by the compound, the eistence of naturally resistant strains (Harde and Jackson, 1918) and the possibility of inducing phenol resistance in strains of a normally sensitive bacterial species (Altmann and Rauth, 1910; see Meader and Feirer, 1926) have been known for some time, and have been observed in a variety of organisms. However, the origin and nature of these resistant strains and the correlation of their resistance to bacteriostatic and bactericidal actions of the compound have not yet been explained satisfactorily. The present investigation was undertaken with the hope of contributing some information in regard to these problems.