RESEARCH ARTICLE
Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Compounds Antithetically Affect the Growth of Eicosapentaenoic Acid-Synthesizing Escherichia coli Recombinants
Ryuji Horia, #, Takanori Nishidab, #, §, Hidetoshi Okuyamaa, b, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2011Volume: 5
First Page: 114
Last Page: 118
Publisher ID: TOMICROJ-5-114
DOI: 10.2174/1874285801105010114
Article History:
Received Date: 29/7/2011Revision Received Date: 8/8/2011
Acceptance Date: 18/8/2011
Electronic publication date: 3/11/2011
Collection year: 2011
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
The growth of Escherichia coli DH5α recombinants producing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (DH5αEPA+) and those not producing EPA (DH5αEPA–) was compared in the presence of hydrophilic or hydrophobic growth inhibitors. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of hydrophilic inhibitors such as reactive oxygen species and antibiotics were higher for DH5αEPA+ than for DH5αEPA–, and vice versa for hydrophobic inhibitors such as protonophores and radical generators. E. coli DH5α with higher levels of EPA became more resistant to ethanol. The cell surface hydrophobicity of DH5αEPA+ was higher than that of DH5αEPA–, suggesting that EPA may operate as a structural constituent in the cell membrane to affect the entry and efflux of hydrophilic and hydrophobic inhibitors.
