EFFECTS OF PHENETHYL ALCOHOL ON BACILLUS AND STREPTOCOCCUS

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 1976

Authors

SILVA, MT (Author) Other; SOUSA, JCF (Author) Other; MACEDO, MAE (Author) Other; Polonia, J (Author) FMUP; PARENTE, AM (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Journal of Bacteriology

Vol. 127

Pages: 1359-1369

ISSN: 0021-9193

Publisher: American Society for Microbiology

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 31 Citations

Scopus - 18 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-001-Z65

Abstract (EN): The activity of phenethyl alcohol (PEA) on Bacillus cereus, B. megaterium, and Streptococcus faecalis was studied by electron microscopy of thin sections and by the assay of intracellular K+ leakage. S. faecalis was unaffected by PEA at concentrations up to 0.5%, B. cereus was severely damaged by 0.5% PEA, and B. megaterium behaved intermediately. Important membrane ultrastructural alterations were observed in B. cereus cells treated with 0.5% PEA, namely the change in the geometry of the membrane profile from asymmetric to symmetric, the occurrence of prominent, complex mesosome like structures, and membrane fracturing and solubilization. Protoplasts from B. megaterium were found to be quickly lysed by 0.5% PEA due to the disruption of the cytoplasmic membrane. The electron microscopic observations, together with the results of the study of the K+ efflux from B. cereus and B. megaterium, indicate that PEA primarily and directly damages the cytoplasmic membrane of sensitive bacteria. The breakdown of the permeability barrier probably is responsible for the observed bactericidal action of 0.5% PEA on B. cereus.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 11