Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1969 Feb;97(2):749–755. doi: 10.1128/jb.97.2.749-755.1969

Permeability of Serratia marcescens to Some Inorganic Salts

Leonard Zimmerman 1
PMCID: PMC249755  PMID: 4886291

Abstract

The physical interactions between Serratia marcescens and solutions of NaCl, CaCl2, CaI2, NaI, and Na2HPO4 plus NaH2PO4 were examined. Dilute (0.017 n) salt solutions did not cause cells to lose water, as evidenced by the unchanged weight of centrifugally packed cells. The cells preferentially adsorbed the cations and repelled the anions of most salts in these solutions. Concentrated (1.71 n) salt solutions markedly reduced the weight and water content of centrifugally packed cells, although these cells took up considerable amounts of salts. More than 90% of the water in the packed-cell pellets was available for the solution of NaCl at 4.2 to 4.4% concentration. The observation that salts apparently penetrated the cells freely and yet caused extensive dehydration was not readily compatible with conventional concepts of solute-induced plasmolysis. Alternative hypotheses to explain the data included the following. First, the cells lost weight and water to concentrated salt solutions through a nonosmotic competitive dehydration, causing a shrinkage of the protoplasmic gel. The shrinkage of the cell wall was limited because of the rigidity of its mucopeptide layer; therefore, a space appeared between the cell wall and the cell membrane. Second, cells may have equilibrated their water activity with that of their environment by two mechanisms: (i) the loss of water by plasmolysis or competitive dehydration, and (ii) alterations in cell permeability that admitted previously excluded solutes to the cell interior. Possibly, the correct explanation of the observations reported here involves elements of all three hypotheses, plasmolysis, competitive dehydration, and permeability alterations.

Full text

PDF
749

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. AVI-DOR Y., KUCZYNSKI M., SCHATZBERG G., MAGER J. Turbidity changes in bacterial suspensions: kinetics and relation to metabolic state. J Gen Microbiol. 1956 Feb;14(1):76–83. doi: 10.1099/00221287-14-1-76. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BERNHEIM F. Factors which affect the size of the organisms and the optical density of suspensions of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. J Gen Microbiol. 1963 Jan;30:53–58. doi: 10.1099/00221287-30-1-53. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BROWN A. D. ASPECTS OF BACTERIAL RESPONSE TO THE IONIC ENVIRONMENT. Bacteriol Rev. 1964 Sep;28:296–329. doi: 10.1128/br.28.3.296-329.1964. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. CONWAY E. J., DOWNEY M. An outer metabolic region of the yeast cell. Biochem J. 1950 Sep;47(3):347–355. doi: 10.1042/bj0470347. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. HARMAN J. W., KITIYAKARA A. Studies on mitochondria. VI. The relationship between the structure, osmotic reactivity and ATPase activity of mitochondria from pigeon skeletal muscle. Exp Cell Res. 1955 Jun;8(3):411–435. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(55)90119-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. HENNEMAN D. H., UMBREIT W. W. FACTORS WHICH MODIFY THE EFFECT OF SODIUM AND POTASSIUM ON BACTERIAL CELL MEMBRANES. J Bacteriol. 1964 Jun;87:1266–1273. doi: 10.1128/jb.87.6.1266-1273.1964. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. HENNEMAN D. H., UMBREIT W. W. INFLUENCE OF THE PHYSICAL STATE OF THE BACTERIAL CELL MEMBRANE UPON THE RATE OF RESPIRATION. J Bacteriol. 1964 Jun;87:1274–1280. doi: 10.1128/jb.87.6.1274-1280.1964. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. LION M. B., BERGMANN E. D. Substances which protect lyophilized Escherichia coli against the lethal effect of oxygen. J Gen Microbiol. 1961 Jun;25:291–296. doi: 10.1099/00221287-25-2-291. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. LION M. B. QUANTITATIVE ASPECTS OF THE PROTECTION OF FREEZE-DRIED ESCHERICHIA COLI AGAINST THE TOXIC EFFECT OF OXYGEN. J Gen Microbiol. 1963 Sep;32:321–329. doi: 10.1099/00221287-32-3-321. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lovett S. Rapid changes in bacteria following introduction into hypertonic media. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1965 Nov;120(2):565–569. doi: 10.3181/00379727-120-30591. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. MACDONALD R. E., GERHARDT P. Bacterial permeability: the uptake and oxidation of citrate by Escherichia coli. Can J Microbiol. 1958 Apr;4(2):109–124. doi: 10.1139/m58-013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. MAGER J., KUCZYNSKI M., SCHATZBERG G., AVI-DOR Y. Turbidity changes in bacterial suspensions in relation to osmotic pressure. J Gen Microbiol. 1956 Feb;14(1):69–75. doi: 10.1099/00221287-14-1-69. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. ZIMMERMAN L. Survival of Serratia marcescens after freeze-drying or aerosolization at unfavorable humidity. I. Effects of sugars. J Bacteriol. 1962 Dec;84:1297–1302. doi: 10.1128/jb.84.6.1297-1302.1962. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES