Single-cell analysis
reveals microbial spore responses to sodium hypochlorite
Weiming Yang1,2, Yufeng Yuan1, Lin
He111School of Electrical Engineering and
Intelligentization, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan,
Guangdong, China2School of Information and Optoelectronic Science
and Engineering, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong,
China
*Correspondence
Lin He, School of Electrical Engineering and Intelligentization,
Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, Guangdong, China
E-mail: helin@dgut.edu.cnHaihua Fan, School of Information and Optoelectronic Science and
Engineering, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006,
Guangdong, China
E-mail: fanhh@scnu.edu.cn,*,
Haihua Fan2,*
Abstract: Pollution from toxic spores has caused us a lot of
problems, because spores are extremely resistant and can survive most
disinfectants. Therefore, the detection of spore response to
disinfectant is of great significance for the development of effective
decontamination strategies. In this work, we investigated the effect of
0.5% sodium hypochlorite on the molecular and morphological properties
of single spores of Bacillus subtilis using single-cell
techniques. Laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy showed that sodium
hypochlorite resulted in Ca2+-dipicolinic acid release
and nucleic acid denaturation. Atomic force microscopy showed that the
surface of treated spores changed from rough to smooth, protein shells
were degraded at 10 min, and the permeability barrier was destroyed at
15 min. The spore volume decreased gradually over time. Live-cell
imaging showed that the germination and growth rates decreased with
increasing treatment time. These results provide new insight into the
response of spores to sodium hypochlorite.
Key words : atomic force microscopy; Bacillus subtilis ;
laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy; morphological structure; single-cell
analysis