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Alterations in macromolecular composition and cell wall integrity by ciprofloxacin in Mycobacterium smegmatis
Author(s) -
Verma I.,
Rohilla A.,
Khuller G. K.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
letters in applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.698
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1472-765X
pISSN - 0266-8254
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2672.1999.00597.x
Subject(s) - ciprofloxacin , antimycobacterial , mycobacterium smegmatis , microbiology and biotechnology , macromolecule , cell , cell wall , dna , antibacterial agent , biology , fluorescence microscope , chemistry , mechanism of action , minimum inhibitory concentration , biochemistry , intracellular , biophysics , in vitro , antibiotics , fluorescence , mycobacterium tuberculosis , medicine , tuberculosis , physics , pathology , quantum mechanics
The present study has been undertaken to explore the biochemical mechanism of antimycobacterial action of a potent fluoroquinolone i.e. ciprofloxacin in Mycobacterium smegmatis . Cells grown in the presence of a subinhibitory concentration (IC50) of ciprofloxacin had a significantly lower content of all the major macromolecules i.e DNA, RNA, proteins and lipids with maximum inhibition in DNA concentration as compared to control. Significant quantitative changes were also observed in the various chemical constituents of cell wall of ciprofloxacin grown cells. A decrease in the number of binding sites for a fluorescent probeL‐anilinonapthalene‐8‐sulphonate (ANS) in ciprofloxacin grown cells suggested structural changes on the cell surface. Significant changes were also observed in the morphology of cells grown in the presence of ciprofloxacin by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Our results suggest that ciprofloxacin exerts its antimycobacterial activity by affecting the cell wall as well as various macromolecules, particularly DNA, the vital component for cell survival and growth.