COMPARISON OF PHOTODYNAMIC ACTION BY ROSE BENGAL IN GRAM-POSITIVE AND GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA

Abstract— The photodynamic inactivation by illuminated Rose Bengal of a number of bacterial species was compared. The gram-positive species, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis and Streptococcus salivarius, were inactivated about 200x more quickly (99% inactivation) than a Salmonella typhimurium wildtype strain. The Salmonella inactivation curve exhibited an initial lag time during which bacteria were not significantly inactivated. The lag time for inactivation of a derivative of the wildtype Salmonella strain that is deficient in a large portion of its cell wall lipopolysaccharide coat was approximately half of the lag time for the wildtype strain but the subsequent rate of inactivation was approximately the same for the two strains. Dark preincubation of both Salmonella strains with Rose Bengal before illumination shortened the lag time, but did not increase the final rate of inactivation. Dark preincubation prior to illumination did not measurably change the inactivation curve of the gram-positive species. The lag time observed in the inactivation curves for Salmonella bacteria may reflect the time required for penetration of the Rose Bengal anion through the outer portion of the gram-negative cell wall to a critical location within the cell for effective photosensitization.