Open AccessA benzoxazole inhibitor of NADH dehydrogenase in Paracoccus denitrificans
Author(s) -
Phillips Mary K.,
Kell Douglas B.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1981.tb06946.x
Subject(s) - paracoccus denitrificans , benzoxazole , bacteria , chemistry , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , organic chemistry , biology , enzyme , genetics
Tinopal AN, (1,1-bis(3,N-5-dimethyl benzoxazol2yl)methine p toluene sulphonate) (Fig. 1), is a cationic benzoxazole derivative present in the commercial product Uvitex AN (CibaGeigy Ltd., UK), which has been used as a fluorescent optical brightener in ultra violet light microscopy as a tool for the non-specific differentiation of bacteria and fungi from background plant material [1,2]. It was later realised that Tinopal A N was, in some cases, a potent bactericidal agent and more recently its selective toxicity was investigated [3] with particular reference to phytopathogenic pseudomonad and xanthomonad bacteria. It was found [3] that the compound was much more toxic to potentially sensitive bacteria in aerobic nutrient broth media containing 1% glucose than in the same medium lacking added glucose, suggesting that toxicity might be associated with aerobic respiratory metabolism. Thus it seemed appropriate to assess in greater detail the mode of inhibition of aerobic bacterial growth by Tinopal AN. For this purpose, the respiratory