[Effect of gramicidin S and its derivatives on protoplasts of Bacillus subtilis]

The lysis of Bacillus subtilis protoplasts by gramicidin S, a membrane active antibiotic, and its derivatives was studied according to free amino groups of the ornithine residue. The initial antibiotic and guanylgramicidin , a positive charge-preserving derivative, had a high lytic activity. Succinylgramicidin , a gramicidin S derivative with acid properties, and carbomoylgramicidin , a neutral derivative, actively lysed B. subtilis protoplasts suspended in 1/15 M phosphate buffer solution with sucrose . No lytic activity of succinylgramicidin was observed with respect to B. subtilis protoplasts suspended in an aqueous solution of sucrose. Comparative study on the sensitivity of the protoplasts of Micrococcus lysodeikticus, B. megaterium and B. subtilis to the lytic action of gramicidin S and its derivatives showed in the main a similar character of their interaction with the membranes of the protoplasts of the taxonomically close species (B. megaterium and B. subtilis). It is likely that the specificity of the action of the above substances on the protoplasts of M. lysodeikticus, i. e. a complicated character of the dependence of the lytic action of gramicidin S on its concentration, manifestation of the lytic activity of the neutral and acid derivatives in the presence of phosphates or other salts and in sucrose aqueous solution was mainly defined by the properties of the micrococcal membranes.