Photodamage of gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial cells in the presence of chlorin e6 derivatives]

The kinetics of photoinduced damage sensitized by chlorine e6 and its derivatives was studied in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. The effectiveness of E. coli photoinactivation in the presence of chlorines was 100-200 times lower as compared with that of B. subtilis. The structural organisation of bacterial cell walls apparently played an essential role in the penetration of tetrapyrrole pigments into the cell and in their binding.