Cracking the Microbial Cell Wall

The Sponge like Protocol was recently published by Amara et al. (2013) [1]. The protocol describes a new method for bacterial evacuation from their cytoplasmic contents without deforming their 3D structure or their surface antigens [1,2]. The protocol was originally optimized by Plackett-Burman design [1,3]. It based on randomising both of the +1 which was the minimum inhibition concentration MIC and the minimum growth concentration MGC (-1) of compounds able to induce pores in bacterial cell walls [1,3]. The used chemical compounds are SDS, NaOH, H2O2, CaCO3 and the NaCl and the Ethanol were used during the evacuation processes. By determining each of the MIC and MGC and running either the full Plackett-Burman twelve experimental design as in the original protocol or running the best two experiments which giving the best results as in the reduced protocol, that guarantee full evacuation with nearly no effect on the 3D or the surface antigens [4,2].