Cell permeability to toxicants: An important parameter in toxicity tests using bacteria

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Abstract
There is a need to monitor quickly and inexpensively the toxicity of the myriad of exotic chemicals that are introduced daily into the environment. A wide range of microbial ecotoxicity tests have been developed to assess the impact of these toxicants on natural and manmade ecosystems. Criteria used for assessing the ideal microbial ecotoxicity test are simplicity, sensitivity, rapidity, and low cost. Much work has been done to develop simple short‐term and low‐cost ecotoxicity tests, but less is known about ways to increase the sensitivity of the test microorganisms, which are mostly Gram‐negative bacteria. During the past 3 decades, efforts have been made toward obtaining a better understanding of the structure of the outer membrane of Gram‐negative bacteria. There are serveral approaches for increasing the permeability of the outer membrane to hydrophilic, hyrophobic, and surface active compounds. This review explores these methods and their potential application to enhance the sensitivity of the test bacteria to environmental toxicants.