The impact of synthetic nitriles on the morphology and viability of some bacterial species

The toxic effects of synthetic nitriles and nitrile herbicides on some bacterial species were estimated. Biotests based on bioluminescence revealed that aromatic nitriles including herbicides had the most significant toxic effect on bacteria, which differed from their effect on eukaryotic cells. It was shown that soil strains of nitrile-utilizing bacteria were resistant to high concentrations of the studied compounds. The minimal bactericidal concentrations for most of nitriles were 0.5 M or above. It was demonstrated that exposure to 0.1 and 1 mM bromoxynil solution resulted in a decrease in the linear parameters of the cells of all strains and sufficient changes in the cell surface of Gram-negative bacteria. It was proposed that the toxic effect of aromatic herbicides was caused not only by inactivation of an enzyme of the electron-transport chain but also by damage to the surface structures.