X-RAY-MICROANALYSIS OF CHLORHEXIDINE-TREATED CELLS OF SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE

The use of energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX) to identify and quantify the presence of chlorhexidine diacetate (CHA) within Sacchar omyces cerevisiae cells was examined. Chlorine was used as the element al marker tag. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells exposed to 1000 mu g ml( -1) CHA took up increasing amounts of CHA over a time period of 30 s t o 30 min. Electron probe micro-analysis was employed to examine the sp ecific accumulation of CHA across the treated cells. These results sho wed that CHA was distributed evenly between the cell wall, cytoplasm a nd vacuoles of cells pre-treated with this concentration of CHA for 30 min. The EDAX system therefore provides a useful tool for examining t he qualitative and quantitative effects of chlorhexidine on yeast cell s, although quantitative data must be interpreted with caution.