Biological Evaluation of DNA Damage in Bacteriophages Inactivated by Atmospheric Pressure Cold Plasma

Abstract

Abstract Inactivation mechanisms of plasma treated microorganisms are still major subjects. We have developed a biological assay which evaluates in vivo DNA damage of the viruses treated with non‐thermal atmospheric pressure plasma in air. Different doses of the plasma were applied to wet state of λ phage particles under neutral pH and near the room temperature. From each sample of treated λ phages, DNA was purified and subjected to in vitro DNA packaging reactions. Survival curves of the re‐packaged phages showed an extremely large D value ( D = 25 s) compared to the previous D value ( D = 3 s) obtained from the survival curves of the treated phages. The results indicate the evidence that DNA damage hardly contributed to the inactivation. magnified image