Plasma-generated nitric oxide water: A promising strategy to combat bacterial dormancy (VBNC state) in environmental contaminant Micrococcus luteus

Shweta B Borkar; Manorma Negi; Apurva Jaiswal; Tirtha Raj Acharya; Neha Kaushik; Eun Ha Choi; Nagendra Kumar Kaushik

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132634

Plasma-generated nitric oxide water: A promising strategy to combat bacterial dormancy (VBNC state) in environmental contaminant Micrococcus luteus

J Hazard Mater. 2024 Jan 5:461:132634. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132634. Epub 2023 Sep 27.

Authors

Shweta B Borkar¹, Manorma Negi¹, Apurva Jaiswal¹, Tirtha Raj Acharya¹, Neha Kaushik², Eun Ha Choi³, Nagendra Kumar Kaushik⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electrical and Biological Physics/Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Kwangwoon University, Seoul 01897, South Korea.
² Department of Biotechnology, College of Engineering, The University of Suwon, Hwaseong 18323, South Korea. Electronic address: neha.bioplasma@gmail.com.
³ Department of Electrical and Biological Physics/Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Kwangwoon University, Seoul 01897, South Korea. Electronic address: ehchoi@kw.ac.kr.
⁴ Department of Electrical and Biological Physics/Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Kwangwoon University, Seoul 01897, South Korea. Electronic address: kaushik.nagendra@kw.ac.kr.

PMID: 37793251
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132634

Abstract

The viable but non-culturable (VBNC) is an inactive state, and certain bacteria can enter under adverse conditions. The VBNC state challenges the environment, food safety, and public health since VBNCs may resuscitate and pose a risk to human health. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of plasma-generated nitric oxide water (PG-NOW) on airborne contaminant Micrococcus luteus (M. luteus) and examine its potential to induce the VBNC state. The essential conditions for bacteria to enter VBNC state are low metabolic activity and rare or no culturable counts. The results indicated that PG-NOW effectively eliminates M. luteus, and the remaining bacteria are in culturable condition. Moreover, the conventional cultured-based method combined with a propidium iodide monoazide quantitative PCR (PMAxx^TM-qPCR) showed no significant VBNC induction and moderate culturable counts. Results from the qPCR revealed that gene levels in PG-NOW treated bacteria related to resuscitation-promoting factors, amino acid biosynthesis, and fatty acid metabolism were notably upregulated. PG-NOW inactivated M. luteus showed negligible VBNC formation and alleviated infection ability in lung cells. This study provides new insights into the potential use of PG-NOW reactive species for the prevention and control of the VBNC state of M. luteus.

Keywords: Environment and public health; Environmental contaminant; Micrococcus luteus; Plasma generated nitric oxide water; Viable but not culturable state.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bacteria / genetics
Humans
Micrococcus luteus* / genetics
Nitric Oxide*
Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques
Water

Substances

Nitric Oxide
Water