bacterial viability
Environmental MicrobiologyTransformative Approach To Investigate the Microphysical Factors Influencing Airborne Transmission of PathogensA transformative approach to identify the physicochemical processes that impact the biological decay rates of bacteria in aerosol droplets is described. It is shown that the evaporation process and changes in the phase and morphology of the aerosol particle during evaporation impact microorganism viability. The equilibrium droplet size was found to affect airborne bacterial viability. Furthermore, the presence of...
Environmental MicrobiologyImmobilization of Phosphatidylserine by Ethanol and Lysozyme on the Cell Surface for Evaluation of Apoptosis-Like Decay in Activated-Sludge BacteriaSince the externalization of phosphatidylserine (PS) is considered a crucial characteristic of apoptosis, we sought to identify apoptosis-like decay in bacterial cells by PS staining using AVF. We show that this is possible, provided the bacteria are pretreated with ethanol plus lysozyme to remove a physical staining barrier and preserve the original, decay-related externalization of PS. Our work suggests that PS externalization occurs...