Study on sterilization effects and mechanisms of contact glow discharge plasma on Actinomucor elegans

Abstract

Mucormycosis infected by Actinomucor elegans is relatively serious in the population, so it is urgent need to inactivate Actinomucor elegans. In order to investigate the sterilization effect and mechanisms of contact glow discharge plasma (CGDP) on Actinomucor elegans, the effects of voltage, time and electrolyte on sterilization efficiency were investigated, and the sterilization conditions were confirmed. The sterilization mechanism of CGDP on Actinomucor elegans was explored by analyzing the changes of colony morphology, spore content leakage and peroxidation damage that induced by CGDP treatment. The results showed that CGDP had remarkable sterilization effects on Actinomucor elegans, under the conditions of 560 V, 15 min and Na2SO4 solution, the sterilization rate (η) was up to 90.71%, the colony diameter, spore germination rate and mycelial biomass accumulation all decreased significantly after CGDP treatment, while leakage of intracellular components and degree of peroxidation damage increased, and spore surface became shrinking and rupturing. It was concluded that the Actinomucor elegans was inactivated due to cell membrane integrity destroying induced by CGDP. The results of this paper could provide a reference for the application and mechanism research of CGDP in the field of fungicidal.

Keywords

• contact glow discharge plasma
• actinomucor elegans
• sterilization efficiency
• cell membrane integrity