The action of some triphenylmethane dyes on yeast and erythrocyte membranes.

The action of a series of triphenylmethane dyes on the membranes of two different cell types, yeast cells and erythrocytes, have been studied. The action of the dyes on yeast cells resembles the action of other positively charged bactericides. The sequence of the activity in the dye series is completely different for yeast cells and erythrocytes. Pararosaniline and crystal violet are much more active than malachite green and brilliant green on yeast cells, whereas the reverse sequence of activities applies in erythrocytes. The carbinol form of the dyes plays an important role as regards dye interaction with erythrocytes. Transition of the dye into the carbinol form is in water extremely slow, but is greatly accelerated in the presence of an organic phase, at least for malachite green and brilliant green, but not for crystal violet and pararosaniline. This explains the different action of the two categories of dyes on erythrocytes. Experiments with pure carbinol also support the hypothesis.