The influence of oxygen and inositol on the survival of semidried microorganisms

Rates of Drying and Survival of Rhizobium meliloti Strains During Storage at Different Relative Humidities

An investigation was made of the survival of six strains of Rhizobium meliloti filtered on membrane filters and held in atmospheres of controlled relative humidities (RH) of from 0 to 100% at 30 degrees C in the presence of air. The rate of water loss in the desiccator was determined by the humidity-controlling solution used. Drying was accelerated by a mild evacuation of the desiccator during the drying step. Survival rates of R. meliloti strains were much higher after slow drying to 0% RH than immediately after rapid drying. Fast drying (drying period less than 3.4 h) was shown to adversely affect the tolerance to storage at all RH values tested (no survival after 2 to 5 days of storage). When survival during storage was measurable (after slow drying), the optimum RH values for storage were 43% for strains A145 and Wu498, 22 to 43% for strains RCR2011, Wu499, and Ar16, and 83% for strain RCR2004. The most favorable drying periods were 8, 9.2, 14.2, and 50.1 h for the subsequent storage of strain RCR2011 at RH values of 0, 22, 43, and 83%, respectively. The damaging effects of rapid drying on the tolerance of strain RCR2011 to storage at different RH values could be prevented either by rehydration and subsequent slow redrying or incomplete rapid drying followed by slow drying. It is suggested that R. meliloti strains are susceptible to desiccation stresses. However, the quantitative differences among strains appear to be large enough to permit selection with regard to tolerance to desiccation and storage in dried states.

Development of a method for bacteria and virus recovery from heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) filters

The aim of the work presented here is to study the effectiveness of building air handling units (AHUs) in serving as high volume sampling devices for airborne bacteria and viruses. An HVAC test facility constructed according to ASHRAE Standard 52.2-1999 was used for the controlled loading of HVAC filter media with aerosolized bacteria and virus. Nonpathogenic Bacillus subtilis var. niger was chosen as a surrogate for Bacillus anthracis. Three animal viruses; transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), avian pneumovirus (APV), and fowlpox virus were chosen as surrogates for three human viruses; SARS coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, and smallpox virus; respectively. These bacteria and viruses were nebulized in separate tests and injected into the test duct of the test facility upstream of a MERV 14 filter. SKC Biosamplers upstream and downstream of the test filter served as reference samplers. The collection efficiency of the filter media was calculated to be 96.5 +/- 1.5% for B. subtilis, however no collection efficiency was measured for the viruses as no live virus was ever recovered from the downstream samplers. Filter samples were cut from the test filter and eluted by hand-shaking. An extraction efficiency of 105 +/- 19% was calculated for B. subtilis. The viruses were extracted at much lower efficiencies (0.7-20%). Our results indicate that the airborne concentration of spore-forming bacteria in building AHUs may be determined by analyzing the material collected on HVAC filter media, however culture-based analytical techniques are impractical for virus recovery. Molecular-based identification techniques such as PCR could be used.

Survival of bacteria during aerosolization

One form of commercial application of microorganisms, including genetically engineered microorganisms is as an aerosol. To study the effect of aerosol-induced stress on bacterial survival, nonrecombinant spontaneous antibiotic-resistant mutants of four organisms, Enterobacter cloacae, Erwinia herbicola, Klebsiella planticola, and Pseudomonas syringae, were sprayed in separate experiments in a greenhouse. Samples were collected over a distance of 15 m from the spray site for enumeration. Spores of Bacillus subtilis were used as tracers to estimate the effects of dilution on changes in population over distance. Viable counts of P. syringae, Enterobacter cloacae, and K. planticola decreased significantly over a distance of 15 m. Erwinia herbicola showed no significant decline in counts over the same distance. The degree of survival of P. syringae during aerosolization was dependent on ambient environmental conditions (i.e., temperature, relative humidity), droplet size of the aerosol, and prior preparative conditions. Survival was greatest at high relative humidities (70 to 80%) and low temperatures (12 degrees C). Survival was reduced when small droplet sizes were used. The process of washing the cells prior to aerosolization also caused a reduction in their survival. Results from these experiments will be useful in developing sound methodologies to optimize enumeration and for predicting the downwind dispersal of airborne microorganisms, including genetically engineered microorganisms.

Effects of betaine on enumeration of airborne bacteria

The osmoprotectant betaine was incorporated into collection fluid and enumeration medium to determine its effects on the colony-forming abilities of airborne bacteria, which were collected from three separate locations: a wastewater treatment plant, the roof of a laboratory building, and an unobstructed farmland. At all locations, addition of 2 to 5 mM betaine caused a significant increase (from 21.6 to 61.3%) in colonial outgrowth, compared with the growth rate of controls without betaine. The presence of betaine in both the collection fluid and the enumeration medium had an additive effect on the colony-forming ability of airborne bacteria compared with the presence of betaine in either one alone. The effect of various betaine concentrations on the enumeration of aerosolized Pseudomonas syringae was determined. Betaine showed a threshold for maximum effect at a concentration of 2 to 5 mM. At higher concentrations (10 to 20 mM), the effects of betaine were negligible or possibly inhibitory. The significance of these results with respect to the development of protocols for monitoring airborne microorganisms, including genetically engineered microorganisms, is discussed.

Survival of virulent Legionella pneumophila in aerosols

Aqueous suspensions of virulent Legionella pneumophila grown on solid medium retained virulence and aerosol survival characteristics for several months. Significant numbers of viable organisms were recovered from aerosols held at various relative humidities (r.h.) for up to 2 h. The organisms survived best at 65% r.h. and were least stable at 55% r.h. Exponential phase broth-grown organisms survived poorly in aerosols in comparison with stationary phase broth cultures or organisms grown on solid medium, suggesting that the metabolic status of Legionella pneumophila organisms may be an important factor affecting their ability to survive in aerosols and cause respiratory disease.

Limits to life at low temperatures and at reduced water contents and water activities

Liquid water is generally considered an absolute requisite for functional life; consequently, life is expected to function only over the range of temperatures that permit its existence. These limits, however, do not apply to cell survival. Some cells can survive the closest attainable approach to 0 K, and some can survive the loss of over 99% of their water.

Effects of oxygen on aerosol survival of radiation sensitive and resistant strains of Escherichia coli B

The aerosol survivals in air and nitrogen of radiation sensitive and resistant mutants of Escherichia coli B have been determined with logarithmic and resting phase bacteria. No consistent correlation was found between radiation sensitivity and aerosol sensitivity in the strains tested. Hence, the phenotypes Fil Hcr Exr, which determine sensitivity to radiation, do not influence aerosol survival, i.e. these known mechanisms which repair radiation-induced damage do not operate in aerosol stressed E. coli. In all cases the survival in air was less than that in nitrogen particularly so for E. coli B(s-1). The effect is explained in terms of a toxic action of oxygen. Comparison of survival of log and resting phase bacteria show that log phase cells are less aerosol stable than are resting phase cells. The ability to synthesize DNA in bacteria collected from the aerosol was less than in control unstressed bacteria, and this effect was independent of the presence of oxygen. Reduced ability to synthesize DNA could have been caused by reduced metabolic activity. It is shown that two different death mechanisms occur simultaneously in aerosols at low relative humidity. One mechanism is oxygen dependent and the other oxygen independent. The former was not through a decrease in metabolic activity, whereas the latter could be.

Aerosol survival of Pasteurella tularensis disseminated from the wet and dry states

The aerosol survival in air and in nitrogen was measured for Pasteurella tularensis live vaccine strain, disseminated from the wet and dry states. The results showed that most of the loss of viability occurred in less than 2 min of aerosol age, i.e., a rapid initial decay followed by a much slower secondary decay. In nitrogen and air, minimum survival occurred at 50 to 55% relative humidity (RH) for wet dissemination and at 75% RH for dry dissemination. This shift indicated that aerosols produced by wet and dry dissemination were not equivalent and suggested that survival might not be related to bacterial water activity or content. The results showed that rehydration is the key process with regard to survival, but that lysis on rehydration is not a primary death mechanism. The effects of oxygen were complex because it could be either protective or toxic, depending upon other conditions. The protective action of oxygen was through an effect on the spent culture suspending fluid. The latter contained a toxic component, the activity of which is suppressed by oxygen; possibly the component is pumped away during freeze-drying. A toxic effect of oxygen was not found in the presence of spent culture media because the toxicity of the latter masks such an effect. With other bacterial suspending fluids, oxygen was shown to be toxic at low RH. Similar effects with regard to oxygen toxicity were also found with a laboratory strain of P. tularensis. Differences in oxygen toxicity for aerosols generated from the wet and dry states also suggest that bacterial water content and activity do not control aerosol survival.

Aerosol survival of Escherichia coli B disseminated from the dry state

Survival was determined for Escherichia coli B disseminated as an aerosol from the dry state. Survival in nitrogen, like that for wet dissemination, was better at low than at high relative humidity (RH). At high RH, survival was characterized by critical zones of instability in survival as a function of RH, instability occurring at 100, 95, 78, 70, and 60% RH. In air, survival was inferior to that in nitrogen at low RH, whereas the converse was found at high RH. The effect was attributed to oxygen. In general, results support the conclusion that to the first approximation survival is related to bacterial water content, the latter increasing with RH. However, a more detailed analysis of results indicates that survival might not be exactly related to bacterial water content. It is shown that death occurred because of rehydration and that the pretreatment of E. coli B affected its aerosol stability characteristics; i.e., wet and dry disseminated aerosols are not equivalent.