Chemiosmotic mechanism of antimicrobial activity of Ag(+) in Vibrio cholerae.

Although the antimicrobial effects of silver salts were noticed long ago, the molecular mechanism of the bactericidal action of Ag+ in low concentrations has not been elucidated. Here, we show that low concentrations of Ag+ induce a massive proton leakage through the Vibrio cholerae membrane, which results in complete deenergization and, with a high degree of probability, cell death.