Abstract
Low-molecular-weight chitosans with a viscosity-average molecular weight (Mν) of 5 to 27 kDa and an equal degree of deacetylation (DD, 85%) were highly active against Pseudomonas aureofaciens, Enterobacter agglomerans, Bacillus subtilis, and Bifidobacterium bifidum791, causing death in 80 to 100% of cells. An exception to this tendency was Escherichia coli, for which the rate of cell death induced by the 5-kDa chitosan, was 38%. The antibacterial effect was manifested as early as 10 min after the incubation of 12-kDa chitosan with B. subtilis or E. coli cells. Candida krusei was almost insensitive to the above crab chitosans. However, Candida krusei was highly sensitive to chitosans with Mν 5, 6, 12, 15.7, and 27 kDa: the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) varied from 0.06 to 0.005%. Chitosans with Mν 5, 12, and 15.7 kDa exerted an antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus. Chitosans with Mν 5, 15.7, and 27 kDa had no effect on Bifidobacterium bifidum ATCC 14893. The antibacterial effect of the 4-kDa chitosan on E. coli and B. bifidum 791 increased with DD in the range 55–85%.
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Gerasimenko, D.V., Avdienko, I.D., Bannikova, G.E. et al. Antibacterial Effects of Water-Soluble Low-Molecular-Weight Chitosans on Different Microorganisms. Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology 40, 253–257 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ABIM.0000025947.84650.b4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ABIM.0000025947.84650.b4