lactamase


β-lac·ta·mase

(lak'tă-mās), An enzyme produced by many species of bacteria that disrupts the four-membered β-lactam ring of penicillin and cephalosporin groups of antibiotics, destroying their antimicrobial activity. The ability of an organism to produce a β-lactamase may be chromosomal and constitutive or a plasmid-associated acquired property. Synonym(s): cephalosporinase, lactamase, penicillinase (1)

lactamase

beta lactamase A bacterial enzyme capable of breaking down the beta lactam ring of certain antibiotics, including penicillins, inactivating them