Spores Survivability After Exposure to Low-Temperature Plasmas

To date, research on the inactivation of microorganisms by nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasmas has mainly been concerned by the killing efficiency and/or with the study of the roles played by various plasma agents (ultraviolet, radicals, ions, etc.) in the inactivation process. In this paper, the authors look at the problem from the cells' side. More specifically, the following questions are asked: What part of the spore structure plays a crucial role in its defense against the unfavorable plasma environment, and if the cells do survive plasma treatment, do they emerge the same or do they undergo some kind of noticeable changes? Although complete and comprehensive answers to these questions are not at the authors' grasp at this time, this paper presents convincing preliminary data that show that the integrity of the proteins of a spore's coat plays a major role in its survivability and that cells that survive air plasma exposure emerge with a changed metabolism