On the basis of Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli models previously published in the literature, the transmembrane voltage induced by the application of an alternating current (AC) electric field on a bacterial suspension is calculated using COMSOL Multiphysics software, in the range 1-20 MHz, for longitudinal and transverse field orientations. The voltages developed on each of the three layers of the cell wall are then calculated using an electrical equivalent circuit. This study shows that the overall voltage on the cell wall, whose order of magnitude is a few tens of µV, is mainly distributed on inner and outer layers, while a near-zero voltage is found on the periplasm, due to its much higher electrical conductivity compared with the other layers. Although the outer membrane electrical conductivity taken in the model is a thousand times higher than that of the inner membrane, the voltage there is about half of that on the inner membrane, due to capacitive effects. It follows that the expression of protein complexes anchored in the inner membrane could potentially be disrupted, inducing in particular a possible perturbation of biological processes related to cellular respiration and proton cycle, and leading to growth inhibition as a consequence. Protein complexes anchored in the outer membrane or constituting a bridge between the three layers of the cell wall, such as some porins, may also undergo the same action, which would add another growth inhibition factor, as a result of deficiency in porin filtration function when the external environment contains biocides. Bioelectromagnetics. 2020;41:279-288 © 2020 Bioelectromagnetics Society.

中文翻译：

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交流电感应的跨膜电压在大肠杆菌细胞壁层中的分布。

根据先前在文献中发表的革兰氏阴性细菌大肠杆菌模型，使用COMSOL Multiphysics软件在细菌悬液中施加交流电（AC）电场引起的跨膜电压的计算范围为1-20 MHz，用于纵向和横向场方向。然后，使用等效电路计算在细胞壁三层每一层上产生的电压。这项研究表明，细胞壁上的总电压（数量级为几十微伏）主要分布在内层和外层，而在周质层上发现的电压几乎为零，这是因为其电势要高得多电导率与其他层相比。尽管在模型中采用的外膜电导率是内膜的电导率的一千倍，但由于电容效应，内膜上的电压约为内膜的一半。由此可见，锚定在内膜中的蛋白质复合物的表达可能被破坏，特别是引起与细胞呼吸和质子循环有关的生物学过程的可能扰动，并因此导致生长抑制。锚定在外膜上或构成细胞壁三层之间的桥梁的蛋白质复合物（例如某些孔蛋白）也可能会经历相同的作用，这会增加另一种生长抑制因子，这是由于孔蛋白过滤功能不足而导致的。外部环境包含杀菌剂。生物电磁学。