Question

Surfactants are most effective in disrupting:

outer membranes

cell membranes

cell walls

capsules

Answer 1

The correct answer is cell membrane

Surfactants are most effective in disrupting the cell membranes.

Surfactants are surface active agents. They are amphiphilic molecules, and thus are absorbed in air-water interface, aligning in such a way that the hydrophilic end is in water and hydrophobic end is in the air.

Surfactants kill microbes by disrupting the biological lipid membranes.

Among the given options, only cell membrane is a lipid membrane.

Outer membrane found in gram negative bacteria are composed of lipopolysaccharides and is not a lipid membrane with hydrophobic and hydrophilic end.

Cell walls are capsules are also made up of proteins mainly and are not acted up on by surfactants.

Soaps are handwashes we use are surfactants and they help removing the bacteria present in our body.

Surfactants are classified as:

• Cationic
  • Quaternary ammonium compounds are the most common
  • Disrupt biological membranes are sometimes denature proteins
  • Kill most bacteria, but not Mycobacterium tuberculosis or spores
• Anionic
  • Common soaps
  • Strong detergents; but weak antimicrobial properties
• Amphoteric
  • Characters of both anionic and cationic surfactants
  • Tego compounds are examples
  • Used as antiseptics in dental practices

Cationic surfactants are the most effective disinfectants.

In viruses, the surfactants destroy the lipid envelope covering the viral nucleic acid.