Evaluation of four qualitative methods for detection of beta-lactamase production in Staphylococcus and Micrococcus species

Four qualitative methods for the detection of beta-lactamase production in Staphylococcus and Micrococcus species were evaluated and compared with a quantitative macroiodometric reference method. The disc diffusion test with penicillin G and the cloverleaf method could not separate beta-lactamase-positive from beta-lactamase-negative strains. Two applications of the chromogenic cephalosporin test, using uninduced strains and strains grown on blood agar plates, gave a large number of false negative and false positive results. False negative reactions were most common among uninduced strains, while the false positive reactions were most often recorded for Staphylococcus saprophyticus. A high degree of efficiency was recorded for the nitrocefin spot test, using induced strains grown on antibiotic susceptibility agar, and for the starch-iodine plate method. The starch-iodine plate with methicillin as inducer gave the most reliable results.