The influence of cyclic heating and cooling on Escherichia coli survival

Repeated heating and cooling in lethal (2-52 degrees C) and nonlethal (2-37 degrees C) temperature ranges resulted in cell death of Escherichia coli B/r and E. coli B(S-1) suspended in 0.01 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.0 at varying osmotic pressure, but not in cow's milk. The lethal effect increased with the rate of heating and with increasing suspension media tonicity; it may be caused by the temperature destabilization of cellular osmotic homeostasis.     

The influence of relative humidity on the swelling of pollen grains in vitro

The volume of hydrated pollen grains of Petunia hybrida L. during swelling in germination medium increased three times. The volume of desiccated pollen grains increased only two times after transfer to the same medium. This difference in swelling ability is attributed to different rigidities of the pollen grain wall,ccaused by the different hydration states. The relationship between pollen grain swelling and germination metabolism with regard to relative humidity is discussed.Abbreviation RH relative humidity     

Impact of relative humidity and collection media on mycobacteriophage D29 aerosol

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of aerosol generation, methods of sampling, storage conditions, and relative humidity on the culturability of the mycobacteriophage D29. The lytic phage D29 can kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the phage aerosol can be treated as a potential tool for tuberculosis treatment. The culturability of D29 was tested using a test chamber designed for the bioaerosols research against three spray liquids (deionized water, phosphate-buffered saline [PBS], and normal saline), four collection media (suspension medium [SM], nutrient broth, PBS, and deionized water), two sampling systems (the all-glass impinger AGI-30 and the Biosampler) and across a range of humidities (20 to 90%). The effect of storage conditions on the culturability of collected sample was also evaluated for the AGI-30 impinger. The results proved that viable phage D29 particles generated by deionized water were approximately 30- and 300-fold higher than PBS and normal saline, respectively. As collection media, SM buffer and nutrient broth were observed to yield a higher number of plaques compared to PBS and deionized water. No difference was observed in collection efficiency between AGI-30 and Biosampler with two detection methods (culture-based technique and real-time PCR). The culturability of collected D29 in SM buffer or nutrient broth can be maintained up to 12 h irrespective of storage temperature. Relative humidity was found to strongly influence airborne D29 culturability which is 2- to 20-fold higher in low humidity (25%) than medium (55%) or high (85%) humidity. This research will help identify the optimal means for the application of D29 aerosol in animal inhalation experiments.     

Effects of temperature, relative humidity, absolute humidity, and evaporation potential on survival of airborne Gumboro vaccine virus

Survival of airborne virus influences the extent of disease transmission via air. How environmental factors affect viral survival is not fully understood. We investigated the survival of a vaccine strain of Gumboro virus which was aerosolized at three temperatures (10°C, 20°C, and 30°C) and two relative humidities (RHs) (40% and 70%). The response of viral survival to four metrics (temperature, RH, absolute humidity [AH], and evaporation potential [EP]) was examined. The results show a biphasic viral survival at 10°C and 20°C, i.e., a rapid initial inactivation in a short period (2.3 min) during and after aerosolization, followed by a slow secondary inactivation during a 20-min period after aerosolization. The initial decays of aerosolized virus at 10°C (1.68 to 3.03 ln % min(-1)) and 20°C (3.05 to 3.62 ln % min(-1)) were significantly lower than those at 30°C (5.67 to 5.96 ln % min(-1)). The secondary decays at 10°C (0.03 to 0.09 ln % min(-1)) tended to be higher than those at 20°C (-0.01 to 0.01 ln % min(-1)). The initial viral survival responded to temperature and RH and potentially to EP; the secondary viral survival responded to temperature and potentially to RH. In both phases, survival of the virus was not significantly affected by AH. These findings suggest that long-distance transmission of airborne virus is more likely to occur at 20°C than at 10°C or 30°C and that current Gumboro vaccination by wet aerosolization in poultry industry is not very effective due to the fast initial decay.     

The influence of cooling rates and medium tonicity on Escherichia coli B/r survival after heating with different lethal temperatures

Cell thermosensitivity of Escherichia coli B/r increases with the cooling rise, especially in hypertonic conditions after heating at 50, 55 and 60 degrees C. A certain relationship is suggested between the observed phenomenon and the osmotic homeostasis system of microorganisms under condition of thermogenic and tonic stress.     

The influence of temperature, relative humidity and host factors on the attachment and survival of Boophilus microplus (Canestrini) larvae to skin slices

Attachment of B. microplus larvae was examined using slices (0.5 mm) of bovine skin stretched over a suitable medium. Optimal temperature for attachment lay between 31 and 38°C. At 38°C, 70 to 80% had attached by 4 h but this was followed 6–7 h after the release of the larvae by a significant decrease in the percentage attached. By 8 h, the percentage attached had risen again and remained at 70–80% for the subsequent 16 h. Attachment was not influenced by ambient relative humidity within the range 20–75 % on the time scale studied (16 h). Most larvae denied access to the skin surface at 20 or 45 % R.H. (38°C) died within 24 h. Those allowed to feed survived at 45% but most died at 20% R.H. There was no difference in attachment when bovine or rabbit serum or phosphate buffered saline was used, nor when skin was taken from Zebu × European cattle or Herefords. Attachment was no different when skin was taken from neck, rib or rump, or from cattle with different levels of resistance to B. microplus but there was reduced attachment with mouse skin. Attachment was reduced on skin which had been stored at ? 15°C for 1 day but storage at 10°C for 16 h had no effect. These results are related to problems of tick water balance, host specificity and stimuli for tick attachment.     

The influence of relative humidity on Beauveria bassiana infectivity and replication in the chinch bug,Blissus leucopterus

Beauveria bassiana conidia were bioassayed for pathogenicity against adult chinch bugs, Blissus leucopterus leucopterus, at varying percent relative humidities (RH). The conidia were found to be invasive and pathogenic at all humidities tested. Normal fungal replication and conidiogenesis, however, occurred only on the hosts incubated at the 75% or higher RH levels.     

Effect of relative humidity on the airborne survival of rhinovirus-14

Rhinovirus-14, suspended in tryptose phosphate broth supplemented with uranine (physical tracer) and an antifoam, was aerosolized by use of a Collison nebulizer. The aerosols were held in a rotating drum with the relative humidity at either the low (30 +/- 5%), medium (50 +/- 5%), or high (80 +/- 5%) level at 20 +/- 1 degrees C. An all-glass impinger was used to recover the virus from the air in the drum, with the first air sample being collected after a 15-min period of aerosol stabilization. Subsequent air samples were withdrawn at 2, 4, 8, and 14 h after stabilization of the aerosol. At the low and medium relative humidity levels, the infectivity of the airborne virus was rapidly lost and less than 0.25% could be detected in the first air sample. At the high RH level, however, the airborne virus had a half-life of 13.7 +/- 1.91 h and nearly 30% of the input infectious virus could be detected in the drum air even after 24 h of aerosolization. These findings suggest that under certain environmental conditions, notably high relative humidity, air may act as a vehicle for the spread of rhinovirus infections.