THE BINDING OF A CATIONIC DETERGENT BY YEAST CELLS, IN RELATION TO ITS GERMICIDAL ACTION

Abstract

1) Yeast cells suspended in a solution of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), a typical cationic detergent, rapidly bind CTAB cations. The binding process is nearly completed in less than 2min, while the germicidal action continues for at least 1hr.
2) The shape of overall binding curve shown by yeast cells is similar to that of multilayer adsorption isotherm.
3) The mortality of CTAB-treated cells depends upon the weight ratio of bound CTAB to yeast cells. Calculations show that 10 times the cell surface area must be covered by the bound CTAB to produce 100% killing of the samples.