Comparison of polyvinyl chloride membrane electrodes sensitive to alkylphosphonium ions for the determination of the electrical difference (delta psi) of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus casei.

Polyvinyl chloride membrane electrodes sensitive to tetraphenyl phosphonium (TPP+), butyltriphenyl phosphonium ( bTPP +), and methyltriphenyl phosphonium ( mTPP +) ions have been compared for the determination of the electrical potential difference (delta psi) of the oral bacteria, Streptococcus mutans DR0001 /6 and Lactobacillus casei RB1014 . All three types of electrode proved suitable for determining delta psi, although the TPP+-sensitive electrode was particularly susceptible to interference by protonmotive force (delta p) dissipators known to inhibit sugar uptake by the bacteria. The mTPP +-sensitive electrode was the least affected. Similarly, both strains had a high nonspecific binding capacity for TPP+ and bTPP + ions, and this increased for all three ions when the bacteria were heated to 80 degrees C for 1 h to abolish glucose uptake and metabolism. This heat-treatment procedure is therefore not a suitable control for determination of nonspecific binding to cells. However, 1% (v/v) toluene, 20 microM gramicidin, or 10 microM valinomycin effectively depolarized the bacteria without interfering with nonspecific binding. The ionophores were therefore used subsequently for the determination of nonspecific binding of the lipid-soluble cations. The mTPP + ion and corresponding electrode proved the most effective system, and delta psi values of -89 and -107 mV were obtained for S. mutans and L. casei, respectively, harvested from glucose-limited continuous cultures and incubated in 100 mM Hepes-KOH buffer (pH 7.0), containing 1 mM dithiothreitol and 10 mM glucose. Although the delta psi of S. mutans decreased significantly in the presence of Mes-KOH and potassium phosphate buffers at pH 7.0, it increased to -119 mV in Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.0).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)