Microorganisms cell wall disruption

Imipenem, like other fllactam antibiotics, hinds to PBPs, disrupts bacterial cell wall synthesis, and causes death of susceptible microorganisms. It is very resistant to hydrolysis by most fllactamases. 

Sterilization can be accomplished by treatment with chemicals, as well as by heat, cold, and radiation. Chemical sterilants are also typically oxidizing agents, and their effectiveness is related to their ability to oxidize the cell wall of the microorganism and to diffuse through the cell wall and disrupt cellular activity. Many of the same substances that act as bleaching agents (Table 1) are also used extensively as sterilants. 

When it comes to large-scale disruption, mechanical methods are seen as the most appropriate ones. The disrupting effect is based on tearing apart the cell walls of microorganisms by creating stresses and strains on the cells. They are used mosdy when the desired product is intracellular (inclusion bodies) and cannot diffuse out into the surrounding medium by damaging the cell wall. ... 

Ozone and its related radicals weaken the biofilm matrix and allows for removal of biomass by sheer forces. The free radicals can also form H O that penetrates the cell walls of a microorganism and disrupts cell physiology. 

Sondi and Salopek-Sondi [6] have shown that silver NPs (12nm diameter) were an effective bactericide. Both, scanning and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that silver NPs damaged Escherichia coli cells by disrupting the cell wall, and subsequently accumulated in the bacterial membrane. The antimicrobial effects of silver NPs (13.5 nm) on microorganisms such as yeast, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus were investigated by Kim et al. (7). 

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