Studies on the interaction of bacterial capsular polysaccharide- Klebsiella K16 with cationic and mixed surfactants

Abstract

The spectral studies of cationic dyes, pinacyanol chloride (PCYN) and acridine orange (AO) with capsular polysaccharide Klebsiella K16 (PK16) biopolymer in micellar media reveal many interesting phenomena. Intensity of the metachromatic band (μ) at 490 nm decreases gradually on addition of cationic single surfactant to the biopolymer PK16–dye system of P/D = 30, whereas the intensity of α and β bands reach to the value of original pure dye. As a result, the cationic surfactant destroys the metachromatic compound and forms a new complex with biopolymer PK16 by freeing the dye molecule. Enhancement of fluorescence intensity of AO-PK16 system with cationic surfactant is another evidence for the binding between the biopolymer and the surfactant. Interaction between the biopolymer and mixed surfactant has also been studied. Finally, the binding ability of cationic surfactants with or without non ionic surfactant, the idea of the critical aggregation concentration (cac) of the surfactant, mole fraction and the charge density of mixed surfactant for binding with PK16 and also the site of interaction have been pointed out.