Mechanism of Inactivation of Bacteriophage J1 by Ascorbic Acid |
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| Authors: | Akira Murata Kazuko Kitagawa |
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| Institution: | Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Saga University, Saga 840, Japan |
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| Abstract: | The mechanism of inactivation of a double-stranded DNA phage, phage J1 of Lactobacillus casei, by ascorbic acid was investigated.Bubbling air, oxidizing agents and transition metal ions enhanced the rate of inactivation of the phage by ascorbic acid. In contrast, bubbling nitrogen gas, other reducing agents and radical scavengers prevented the inactivation. The results indicated that the inactivating effect of ascorbic acid was oxygen dependent and caused by free radicals formed during the autoxidation of ascorbic acid.The target of ascorbic acid in the phage particle was not the tail protein but DNA. Ascorbic acid caused single-strand scissions in phage DNA, as exhibited by alkaline sucrose density gradient centrifugation analysis, and caused a slight decrease in the viscosity of DNA. |
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| Keywords: | red tide plankton superoxide scavenging hydroxyl radical scavenging |
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