Hen egg white lysozyme permeabilizes Escherichia coli outer and inner membranes.

Natural preservatives answer the consumer demand for long shelf life foods, synthetic molecules being perceived as a health risk. Lysozyme is already used because of its muramidase activity against Gram-positive bacteria. It is also described as active against some Gram-negative bacteria; membrane disruption would be involved, but the mechanism remains unknown. In this study, a spectrophotometric method using the mutant Escherichia coli ML-35p has been adapted to investigate membrane disruption by lysozyme for long durations. Lysozyme rapidly increases the permeability of the outer membrane of E. coli due to large size pore formation. A direct delayed activity of lysozyme against the inner membrane is also demonstrated, but without evidence of perforations.