Question

Consider the different mechanisms through which antibiotics inhibit microbial growth, and consider what changes in the microbe might enable it to resist the inhibitory effects of antibiotics.

Answer 1

Altered porins in cell wall, which block passage of antibiotic through cell wall.Production of an enzyme that destroys the antibiotic.Microbe develops transport mechanism in plasma membrane that rapidly pumps antibiotic out of the bacterial cell.Modified target site, such that an antibiotic is unable to bind to its target.