Abstract
Five lead-resistant strains of
Staphylococcus aureus were isolated. Plasmid-free lead-sensitive variants were obtained from the three plasmid-bearing strains. Lead-resistant strains tolerated an approximately 600 × higher Pb(NO
3)
2 concentration than lead-sensitive strains. Both types of strains initially bound lead, but only the resistant strains accumulated the metal as an intracellular lead-phosphate.
