Effect of low power microwave radiation on pigment production in bacteria

Abstract

Effect of low power (90 W) microwave (MW) radiation (2450 MHz) on bacterial growth and pigment production was studied in three different bacteria. Microwave exposure of 2-6 min duration was able to alter growth and pigment production (prodigiosin production by Serratia marcescens, violacein production by Chormobacterium violaceum, and staphyloxanthin production by Staphylococcus aureus) in the test organisms significantly. In this study, pigment production was estimated in the cell population originated from microwave treated inoculum, and not directly in the MW treated cells. Thus the alterations in pigment production and/or secretion might have been transferred from the originally MW treated cells to their daughter cells (who did not receive direct MW exposure), indicating the mutagenic influence of microwave radiation. Heavy prodigiosin overproduction observed in one of the test tubes inoculated with microwave treated S. marcescens could not be sustained by daughter populations corresponding to that tube, indicating the reversible nature of microwave induced mutation(s). The microwave effects observed in this study largely seem to be of athermal nature, as the thermal effect was minimized by use of ice during the microwave treatment.

Sonic Stimulation and Low Power Microwave Radiation Can Modulate Bacterial Virulence Towards Caenorhabditis elegans

“…Further, many of their effects may be reversible, for example a sonic stimulated culture may revert back to the normal behavior, soon after removal of the external acoustic field. Reversible nature of MW-induced mutations has previously been indicated by us (Raval et al, 2014). Though underdeveloped at present, further systematic research in this area may pave the way for development of novel therapeutic applications.…”

Optimization of prodigiosin production by Serratia marcescens using crude glycerol and enhancing production using gamma radiation

“…Reports demonstrated reversible nature of microwave effect in over producing mutants of Xanthomonas campestris, were shown to revert back to the parent phenotype and in low dose microwave induced effects in Drosophila melanogaster which disappeared after few generations. The reversion of mutation was due to restoration of microbial repair system to its efficiency after few subcultures [28] .…”

Lactobacillus Acidophilus and Lactobacillus Casei Exposed to Wi-Fi Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation Show Enhanced Growth and Lactic Acid Production

“…Using RF-EMFs to alter the growth of various fungi and bacteria have been studied before. However, these studies showed different results based on species and intervention traits [ 11 - 13 ]. In this light, Kushwah et al ., reported while 2 min exposure to 2450 MHz MW radiation enhanced Streptococcus mutans growth, four minutes of the same exposure reduced the growth of Pectobacteriumcarotovorum [ 7 ].…”