Electrical Discharges in Water Induce Spores' DNA Damage

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2018 Aug 14

PMID 30102709

Citations 1

Authors

Camille Lamarche

Charlotte Da Silva

Gauthier Demol

Etienne Dague

Marie-Pierre Rols

Flavien Pillet

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Bacterial spores are one of the most resilient life forms on earth and are involved in many human diseases, such as infectious diarrhea, fatal paralytic illnesses and respiratory infections. Here, we investigated the mechanisms involved in the death of Bacillus pumilus spores after exposure to electric arcs in water. Cutting-edge microscopies at the nanoscale did not reveal any structural disorganization of spores exposed to electric arcs. This result suggested the absence of physical destruction by a propagating shock wave or an exposure to an electric field. However, Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) revealed genomic DNA damage induced by UV radiation and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). UV induced single-strand DNA breaks and thymine dimers while ROS were mainly involved in base excision. Our findings revealed a correlation between DNA damage and the treatment of spores with electrical discharges.

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