Influence of the medium electrolyte concentration on the electric polarizability of bacteria Escherichia coli in presence of ethanol

The electric polarizability is an important parameter of bacteria, giving information about the electric properties of the cells. In our previous works [A.M. Zhivkov, A.Y. Gyurova, Colloids Surf. B: Biointerfaces 66 (2008) 201; A.Y. Gyurova, A.M. Zhivkov, Biophys. Chem., 139 (2009) 8; A.M. Zhivkov, A.Y. Gyurova, J. Phys. Chem. B, 113 (2009) 8375] we have applied an experimental approach to distinguish the contribution of the components of the two types of interface electric polarizability—surface charge dependent (ChD) and Maxwell–Wagner (MW) polarizability. It is based on electro-optical study of the separate influence of the outer and inner medium electrolyte concentration, which changes the external ChD and internal MW components of polarizability; the last effect is reached by the membrane permeability increase in low ethanol concentration. In the present work we investigate the behavior of electric polarizability of Escherichia coli K12 at increasing the outer KCl concentration in presence of 10 vol.% ethanol in order to check if the polarizability components change independently from one another. The conclusion is that the outer electrolyte concentration influence indirectly the internal MW component by the trans-membrane concentration gradient, but the polarizability components themselves change independently.     

Low frequency electric polarizability and zeta-potential of Escherichia coli HB101 (K-12) cells during inactivation with ethanol

The electric properties of bacteria determine their non-specific interactions with the environment, in particular their pathogenic activity. The electric polarizability of Escherichia coli HB101 (K-12 strain) was studied while inactivation with ethanol (20–40 vol.%). The current investigation might be regarded as a continuation of previous research on the polarizability of E. coli at lower ethanol concentration (≤ 20 vol.%) and higher frequencies (≥ 20 kHz). The bacteria polarizability at low frequencies (<10⁴ Hz) shows anomalies (unexpected increase in the polarizability at certain ethanol concentrations), while the parameter decreases with an increase in the ethanol concentration at higher frequencies. We investigated for the possible reasons causing the anomalies — in our case reduced to the medium dielectric permittivity, the average cell length and the surface electric charge density distribution, related to bacterial lipopolysaccharides. We suggest a hypothesis for the molecular mechanism of changing the surface charge of E. coli, carried by lipopolysaccharides, induced by the non-ionic ethanol.      

Nuclear magnetic resonance J coupling constant polarizabilities of hydrogen peroxide: A basis set and correlation study

In this article, we present the so far most extended investigation of the calculation of the coupling constant polarizability of a molecule. The components of the coupling constant polarizability are derivatives of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) indirect nuclear spin–spin coupling constant with respect to an external electric field and play an important role for both chiral discrimination and solvation effects on NMR coupling constants. In this study, we illustrate the effects of one‐electron basis sets and electron correlation both at the level of density functional theory as well as second‐order polarization propagator approximation for the small molecule hydrogen peroxide, which allowed us to perform calculations with the largest available basis sets optimized for the calculation of NMR coupling constants. We find a systematic but rather slow convergence with the one‐electron basis set and that augmentation functions are required. We observe also large and nonsystematic correlation effects with significant differences between the density functional and wave function theory methods. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Polarization behavior of polystyrene particles under direct current and low‐frequency (<1 kHz) electric fields in dielectrophoretic systems

The relative polarization behavior of micron and submicron polystyrene particles was investigated under direct current and very low frequency (<1 kHz) alternating current electric fields. Relative polarization of particles with respect to the suspending medium is expressed in terms of the Clausius–Mossotti factor, a parameter of crucial importance in dielectrophoretic‐based operations. Particle relative polarization was studied by employing insulator‐based dielectrophoretic (iDEP) devices. The effects of particle size, medium conductivity, and frequency (10–1000 Hz) of the applied electric potential on particle response were assessed through experiments and mathematical modeling with COMSOL Multiphysics^®. Particles of different sizes (100–1000 nm diameters) were introduced into iDEP devices fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and their dielectrophoretic responses under direct and alternating current electric fields were recorded and analyzed in the form of images and videos. The results illustrated that particle polarizability and dielectrophoretic response depend greatly on particle size and the frequency of the electric field. Small particles tend to exhibit positive DEP at higher frequencies (200–1000 Hz), while large particles exhibit negative DEP at lower frequencies (20–200 Hz). These differences in relative polarization can be used for the design of iDEP‐based separations and analysis of particle mixtures.     

Direct chiral discrimination in NMR spectroscopy

Conventional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is unable to distinguish between the two mirror-image forms (enantiomers) of a chiral molecule. This is because the NMR spectrum is determined by the chemical shifts and spin–spin coupling constants which – in the absence of a chiral solvent – are identical for the two enantiomers. We discuss how chirality may nevertheless be directly detected in liquid-state NMR spectroscopy: In a chiral molecule, the rotating nuclear magnetic moment induces an electric dipole moment in the direction perpendicular to itself and to the permanent magnetic field of the spectrometer. We present computations of the precessing electric polarization following a π/2 pulse. Our estimates indicate that the electric polarization should be detectable in favourable cases. We also predict that application of an electrostatic field induces a chirally sensitive magnetization oscillating in the direction of the permanent magnetic field. We show that the electric-field-perturbed chemical shift tensor, the nuclear magnetic shielding polarizability, underlies these chiral NMR effects.     

内含C_(60)的环状卟啉锌双体超分子的结构、电子光谱及三阶非线性光学性质的理论研究

用半径经验AM1和MP3方法研究了内含C_(60)的环状卟啉锌双体的稳定几何构型 。用ZINDO-SOS方法对分子的电子光谱，三阶非线性极化率进行了计算。该分子在 不同的外场频率下，三阶非线性极化率为48.23 * 10~(-34) - 65.15 * 10~(-34) esu，将是一种有很好应用前景的非线性光学材料。     

氯代聚并苯同系物稳定性和电子极化率规律研究

采用引入外电场微扰的量子化学ＣＮＤＯ／２方法，计算了不同构型氯代聚并苯同系物的电子极化率，并采用ＡＭ１方法得到了它们的能量，比较了它们的稳定性、能量和电子极化率随结构单元增加的变化规律。     

Electro-optic characteristics of aqueous beta-FeOOH particles

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the electro-optic behavior of suspensions of noninteracting monodisperse beta-FeOOH particles. The electro-optic parameters are determined for aqueous suspensions of the oxide particles and the influences of surface charge and Debye layer thickness are verified. Since the conventional method of frequency analysis is inconsistent in the low-frequency range, new electro-optic parameters are introduced to define the frequency variation of the effects. Electric polarizability is determined with precision to a constant, and its relative variations are followed. As reported for other oxides, electric polarizability correlates with charge variations in the diffuse part of the particle surface electric layer, and its relaxation frequency increases with surface charge density, indicating a Maxwell-Wagner type of surface polarization. The alternating component of the responses yields particle relaxation frequency and the phase shift of the responses at this frequency. For all studied samples the phase shift at particle relaxation frequency is 45 degrees. The relative changes in the steady component of the responses in the low-frequency range are followed by field intensity curves at characteristic frequencies of the samples. Electrophoretic rotation is the process consistent with our data for the low-frequency effect. The results show that it is enhanced by the combined actions of low or slowly relaxing polarizability and significant electrophoretic mobility.     

Do bacteria have an electric permanent dipole moment?

In the scientific literature in the last 40 years, some data for the permanent dipole moment and the electric polarizability of Escherichia coli can be found [S.P. Stoylov, Colloid Electro-Optics - Theory, Techniques and Application, Academic Press, London, 1991]. In this paper the data based mainly on electro-optic investigation is considered as much as some dipolophoretic (most often called dielectrophoretic) studies. Serious grounds are found to doubt the conclusions made for the electric dipole moments of bacteria by one of the authors of this paper (SPS) and by some other researchers. This concerns both the permanent dipole moment and the electric charge dependent polarizabilities of E. coli. Here, along with the discussion of the old experimental data, new experimental data are shown for a strain of E. coli HB101. The conclusions from the analysis of the old and the new experimental data is that they do not provide correct evidence for the presence of a permanent dipole moment. It seems that all statements for the existence of electric permanent dipole moment in bacteria [S.P. Stoylov, Colloid Electro-Optics - Theory, Techniques and Application, Academic Press, London, 1991; S.P. Stoylov, S. Sokerov, I. Petkanchin, N. Ibroshev, Dokl. AN URSS 180 (1968) 1165; N.A. Tolstoy, A.A. Spartakov, A.A. Trusov, S.A. Schelkunova, Biofizika 11 (1966) 453; V. Morris, B. Jennings, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans. II 71 (1975) 1948; V. Morris, B. Jennings, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 55 (1978) 313; S.P. Stoylov, V.N. Shilov, S.S. Dukhin, S. Sokerov, I. Petkanchin, in: S.S. Dukhin (Ed.), Electro-optics of Colloids, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, 1977 (in Russian).] based on electro-optic studies are result of incorrect interpretation. Therefore, they should be further ignored.     

Orientation of pea chloroplast in an ac electric field

The orientation of pea chloroplast in an ac electric field was studied. The maximum linear dichroism signal at 681 nm was used as an indicator of orientation. It was found that the degrees of orientation depended on the frequency of the electric field. In the frequency range studied, there were two distinct dispersions at about 80 Hz and 750 kHz (α and β dispersion), and a maximum at about 100 kHz. The dependence of orientation on the electric field strength was used to estimate the polarizability. In agreement with the dispersion spectrum, there were stepwise decreases in polarizability at the two dispersions and an increase when moved into the region of the maximum. There was not permanent dipole detected.At a frequency below the α dispersion, an induced dipole arising from the oscillation of a counterion cloud, which is formed adjacent to the thylakoid membrane surface due to the presence of fixed surface charges, is believed to be a major cause of orientation. After the relaxation of this oscillation at higher frequency, the charge accumulation on both the inner and outer surfaces of the thylakoid membrane is believed to play a determinant role. Since the two interfacial polarizations have different dispersion frequencies, the polarizability of chloroplast increases after one dispersion (the maximum), which is then followed by a decrease at the second dispersion (the β dispersion).     

Pyroelectric investigations of a hydrogen bonded ferroelectric liquid crystal gel by LIMM

The laser intensity modulation method (LIMM) is employed to determine spatially resolved polarization distributions in sandwich cells containing a hydrogen‐bonded ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) gel. At no external electric fields, contributions to the distributions at the surface of the FLC layer are dominating in all the samples with different concentration of gel former. These are attributed to non‐vanishing polarization due to surface interaction. In this case, the effect of hydrogen‐bonded network on the polarization distribution is not visible. In external electric fields, additional contribution to the resulting distribution caused by the induced polarization due to unwinding the FLC helix has been observed. Furthermore, the influence of hydrogen‐bonded network on the polarization distribution is also detected when the gel former content is increased up to 5.0 wt%. Therein the shape of the measured pyrospectra is completely different to other FLC gel samples with lower gel former concentration, where their maximum distributions still locate at the surface of FLC layer which is comparable to the initial field‐free state. These result indicate that the helical structure and orientation director of FLC are able to be stabilized effectively by the gel network even under strong external electric field. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electric birefringence and streaming-electric birefringence of synthesized imogolite: the anisotropy of electric polarizability

Imogolite synthesized from sodium orthosilicate and aluminum trichloride was fractionated into four fractions by centrifuging at 12,000 x g (1h). The supernatant, which did not deposit by three times centrifugations, was used for all measurements. The signal of birefringence under a reversing electric pulse showed that the permanent dipole moment is negligibly small at low fields. The electric birefringence under a rectangular electric pulse is positive. The saturated value is proportional to the concentration of imogolite in the range of 0-0.1mg/ml and decreases rapidly with an increase of added salt concentration for NaCl and AgNO(3). It slightly depends on the pH of solution and is biggest in pure water. Then we have determined the anisotropy of electric polarizability (Deltaalpha) for imogolite in pure water at 0.05 mg/ml. Deltaalpha we obtained from the method decreases rapidly at low fields and slowly at high fields as shown in references [M. Matsumoto, Colloids Surf. A 148 (1999) 75, M. Matsumoto, Biophys. Chem. 58 (1996) 173]. It is approximately shown by the following expression, Deltaalpha=Deltaalpha(infinity)+(Deltaalpha(0)-Deltaalpha(infinity))/(1+KE), (Deltaalpha(0):Deltaalpha at E=0, Deltaalpha(infinity):Deltaalpha at E=infinity). Using this relation we can draw the curve of electric birefringence as a function of electric field and compare it with experimental values. The results, when Deltaalpha(0)=1.17x10(-28)Fm(2), Deltaalpha(infinity)=0.005x10(-28)Fm(2) and K=0.00031 m/V, are in good agreement with each other. In order to explain the reason why the anisotropy of electric polarizability rapidly decreases with an increase of electric field we propose that the difference of electrophoretic mobility between parts of colloidal particle causes the orientation of a rod like particle. The theoretical electric birefringence as a function of electric field we obtained is considerably in good agreement with the experimental values.     

A polarizable electrostatic model of the N‐methylacetamide dimer

Our previously developed polarizable electrostatic model is applied to isolated N‐methylacetamide (NMA) and to three hydrogen‐bonded configurations of the NMA dimer. Two versions of the model are studied. In the first one (POL1), polarizability along the valence bonds is described by induced bond charge increments, and polarizability perpendicular to the bonds is described by cylindrically isotropic induced atomic dipoles. In the other version (POL2), the induced bond charge increments are replaced by induced atomic dipoles along the bonds. The parameterization is done by fitting to ab initio MP2/6‐31++G(d,p) electric potentials. The polarizability parameters are determined by subjecting the NMA molecule to various external electric fields. POL1 turns out to be easier to optimize than POL2. Both models reproduce well the ab initio electric potentials, molecular dipole moments, and molecular polarizability tensors of the monomer and the dimers. Nonpolarizable models are also investigated. The results show that polarization is very important for reproducing the electric potentials of the studied dimers, indicating that this is also the case in hydrogen bonding between peptide groups in proteins. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 22: 1933–1943, 2001     

Vibrational polarization and opsin shift of retinal schiff bases: theoretical study

The changes in the electronic excitation energy arising from molecular structural displacement induced by external electric field (so-called vibrational polarization) are examined theoretically for the protonated and neutral 11-cis retinal Schiff bases. It is shown that the magnitude of the field-induced structural displacement is significantly large for the protonated species, so that the change in the electronic excitation energy arising from this structural displacement is of the same order of magnitude as that arising from the direct effect of electric field on the electronic wave function. These two effects contribute additively to the field-induced spectral shift. The intensity-carrying mode (ICM) theory is employed to extract a single vibrational mode (called primary infrared ICM) that is most important for the field-induced structural displacement. A simple one-dimensional model is constructed, and the extent to which we can interpret the field-induced spectral shift by such a model is examined. In the case of the neutral species, only a small change in the electronic excitation energy is induced by external electric field, mainly because the vibrational polarizability of this species is small. The meaning of these results in the spectral tuning of visual pigments is discussed.     

Theoretical model for the polarization molecular and Hückel treatment of PhosphoCyclopentadiene in an external electric field: Hirschfeld study

In this study we relate the Hückel method and molecular polarization of PhosphoCyclopentadiene (P-cyclopentadiene) with respect to the Cyclopentadienyl, and its consequent separation of charges of particular set of conjugated diene systems. The Hückel method and Molecular Polarization of P-cyclopentadiene is expressed as a function of the induced polarizability of Cyclopentadienylin an external electric field, presenting a technique to express the molecular polarizabilities and Hückel method of diene systems as a function of another in an external electric field, using local quantum similarity index (LQSI) based on the Hirschfeld partitioning in the framework of conceptual density functional theory, this index was introduced in the molecular polarization of cyclopentadienyl in an external electric field and in the secular determinant of the Hückel method applied to the Cyclopentadienylin order to express the molecular polarization and Hückel method as a function of P-cyclopentadiene using six local similarity index: Overlap, Overlap-Interaction, Coulomb, Coulomb-Interaction, Overlap-Euclidian distance and Coulomb-Euclidian distance.The topo-geometrical superposition approach (TGSA) was used as method of alignment, which allows us to obtain high results in the proposed LQSIs, this method to be a straightforward procedure to cope with the problem of relative orientation of the molecules when evaluating, developing a new technique that will allow us to study structural systems that differ in one atom in its structure, and proposing methodologies for future studies on a much broader range of systems in which the Hückel method and molecular polarization of two species that differ only in one atom in its structure can be approximated in this way.     

Hirshfeld‐based intrinsic polarizability density representations as a tool to analyze molecular polarizability

In this work, a general scheme to visualize polarizability density distributions is proposed and implemented in a Hirshfeld‐based partitioning scheme. This allows us to obtain easy‐to‐interpret pictorial representations of both total and intrinsic polarizabilities where each point of the density is formed by the contribution of any atom or group of atoms in the molecule. In addition, the procedure used here permits the possibility of removing the size dependence of the electric‐dipole polarizability. Such a development opens new horizons in exploring new applications for the analysis of the molecular polarizability tensor. For instance, this visualization shows which atoms or regions are more polarizable distinguishing, moreover, the fine structure of atoms affected by the vicinity, and might extend the dipole polarizability as a tool for aromaticity studies in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Additionally, this approach can serve us to assess the methods performance in describing the interaction of electric fields with a molecule and local electron correlation effects in intrinsic polarizabilities. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Change of purple membranes geometry induced by protein adsorption

Earlier it was an orthodoxy that purple membranes (PMs) in aqueous medium are shaped as flat hard disks. In a few newer articles it has been shown that PMs are bent and their curvature varies with surface charge density. The purpose of this work is to answer which is the dominant factor for PM bending—structural or electrostatic forces. Two positively charged proteins are used: phytohemagglutinin (PhHA) and protamine.

The electrophoretic mobility and electric polarizability of PMs are measured by microelectrophoresis and electric dichroism. The results show that both proteins reduce the mobility because they are adsorbed on PM surface. However, their influence on the electric polarizability is in the opposite direction—protamine reduces it (trivial effect) while PhHA increases the polarizability (non-trivial effect). The last result is explained by a straightening the initially bent PM because of specific bonding of PhHA to asymmetrically disposed glycolipids of PM in contrast to the electrostatic adsorption of protamine.

It has been concluded that PMs in water medium are bent in the same manner as in in vivo—the intracellular surface with a higher negative charge is concave. The results indicate that electrostatic forces play a significant role in PM curvature but the shape of structural elements is the main factor determining the geometry of PM.     

Communication: Bulkiness versus anisotropy: the optimal shape of polarizable Brownian nanoparticles for alignment in electric fields

Self-assembly and alignment of anisotropic colloidal particles are important processes that can be influenced by external electric fields. However, dielectric nanoparticles are generally hard to align this way because of their small size and low polarizability. In this work, we employ the coupled dipole method to show that the minimum size parameter for which a particle may be aligned using an external electric field depends on the dimension ratio that defines the exact shape of the particle. We show, for rods, platelets, bowls, and dumbbells, that the optimal dimension ratio (the dimension ratio for which the size parameter that first allows alignment is minimal) depends on a nontrivial competition between particle bulkiness and anisotropy because more bulkiness implies more polarizable substance and thus higher polarizability, while more anisotropy implies a larger (relative) difference in polarizability.     

Reduced-size polarized basis sets for calculations of molecular electric properties. I. The basis set generation

Following the recent studies of basis sets explicitly dependent on oscillatory external electric field we have investigated the possibility of some further truncation of the so-called polarized basis sets without any major deterioration of the computed data for molecular dipole moments, dipole polarizabilities, and related electric properties of molecules. It has been found that basis sets of contracted Gaussian functions of the form [3s1p] for H and [4s3p1d] for the first-row atoms can satisfy this requirement with particular choice of contractions in their polarization part. With m denoting the number of primitive GTOs in the contracted polarization function, the basis sets devised in this article will be referred to as the ZmPol sets. In comparison with earlier, medium-size polarized basis sets (PolX), these new ZmPol basis sets are reduced by 2/3 in their size and lead to the order of magnitude computing time savings for large molecules. Simultaneously, the dipole moment and polarizability data remain at almost the same level of accuracy as in the case of the PolX sets. Among a variety of possible applications in computational chemistry, the ZmPolX are also to be used for calculations of frequencies and intensities in the Raman spectra of large organic molecules (see Part II, this issue).