Acriflavine-binding Capacity of Escherichia coli in Relation to Acriflavine Sensitivity and Metabolic Activity

Abstract

Inheritance of the acriflavine resistance gene by an acri-flavine-sensitive strain of E. coli K-12 resulted in a reduction in the cellular accumulation of acriflavine and other basic dyes, but had no effect on the accumulation of acid dyes. In both acriflavine-resistant and -sensitive strains, the cooling of cells from 37 to 0 C increased acriflavine accumulation. This increased accumulation was released from the cells after restoration 37 C. Acriflavine accumulation was increased by carbon shortage, and metabolic disturbance was caused by potassium cyanide, arsenite, puromycin, chloramphenicol, 2-thio-uracil, and 8-azaguanine. The functional relation of acriflavine accumulation to the acriflavine concentration of the medium suggests that adsorption is involved in the accumulation.