Studies on the antibacterial activity of dodecylglycerol
The antimicrobial activity of lipids has been known for many years, with dodecanoylglycerol (dodecanoic acid esterified to glycerol) being one of the most potential. However, the antibacterial potency of dodecylglycerol (DDG), the corresponding 1-O-alkyl glycerol ether, is considerably greater. The superior efficacy of DDG can be attributed, at least in part, to the greater chemical and metabolic stability of the ether bond as compared to esters. In an attempt towards elucidating the mode of action of DDG, the effect of DDG on bacterial lipid metabolism was examined using Streptococcus mutans BHT, a tolerant bacterium. The metabolic fate of the ether was also determined with the use of three radioactive tracers, /sup 14/C-glycerol, /sup 32/Pi, and /sup 14/C-DDG. Treatment of exponentially growing cultures of S. mutans BHI with growth inhibitory concentrations of DDG (10 and 20 ..mu..g/ml) inhibited the incorporation of /sup 14/C-glycerol into lipid. In vivo studies using /sup 14/C-DDG showed that the /sup 14/C-ether was readily incorporated almost exclusively into phosphatidic (PA) and lysophosphatidic (LPA) acids. When cells prelabelled with either /sup 14/C-glycerol or /sup 32/Pi were exposed to 10 and 20 /sup +/g/ml DDG for 2 h, the accumulation of PA and diphosphatidylglycerol (diPG) was greatly stimulated. However, diPG accumulated at the expense of its precursor, glycerol, which greatly decreased. These data suggest that the ether-containing PA inhibits the synthesis of CDP-diglyceride. Moreover, these results clearly demonstrate that DDG functions as a metabolic rather than physical effector, disputing the conventional notion that bactericidal lipids act as detergents, physically dissolving the cellular envelope.
- Research Organization:
- Temple Univ., Philadelphia, PA (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 7246267
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CARBON 14 COMPOUNDS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
ETHERS
METABOLISM
LIPIDS
TOXICITY
PHOSPHORUS 32
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS
CARBOXYLIC ACID ESTERS
DODECANOIC ACID
GLYCEROL
PHOSPHATES
STREPTOCOCCUS
ALCOHOLS
ANTI-INFECTIVE AGENTS
BACTERIA
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DRUGS
ESTERS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LIGHT NUCLEI
MICROORGANISMS
MONOCARBOXYLIC ACIDS
NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS
PHOSPHORUS ISOTOPES
RADIOISOTOPES
550201* - Biochemistry- Tracer Techniques
550701 - Microbiology- Tracer Techniques