1. enzyme produced by certain bacteria that inactivates penicillin and results in resistance to that antibiotic; [syn: penicillinase, beta-lactamase]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
beta-lactamase
n 1: enzyme produced by certain bacteria that inactivates
penicillin and results in resistance to that antibiotic
[syn: penicillinase, beta-lactamase]