Short communication: Cold atmospheric plasma inactivation of Prototheca zopfii isolated from bovine milk

Abstract

Mastitis is a serious bovine diseases that can be caused by Prototheca zopfii, yeast-like algae belonging to the family Chlorellaceae. The substantial economic losses and health damage associated with bovine mastitis emphasize the need to develop effective strategies aimed at control of the infection. Unfortunately, P. zopfii is highly resistant to most common antibacterial and antifungal agents, as well as to heat treatment. We report here the first attempt to use cold atmospheric plasma to inactivate this pathogen. We studied 20 strains of P. zopfii isolated from milk samples taken from cows with clinical or subclinical mastitis. The studies confirmed the high level of resistance of P. zopfii to typical antifungal agents, such as voriconazole, fluconazole, amphotericin B, caspofungin, anidulafungin, and micafungin. In contrast, each of the strains revealed high susceptibility to cold atmospheric plasma, >2-fold higher compared with a reference strain of Candida albicans. The obtained results are promising and open up a new approach in the fight against P. zopfii.

Disinfection and Sterilization Using Plasma Technology: Fundamentals and Future Perspectives for Biological Applications

“…Plasma is also effective against other microorganisms besides the ones mentioned above. For example, plasma inactivation of the yeast-like algae Prototheca zopfii [69] and water-borne helminth Schistosoma japonicum [70], Acanthamoeba species (spp. ), and other ocular pathogens, as well as water-borne protozoan enteroparasite Cryptosporidium parvum when combined with pulsed UV [71] was confirmed.…”

Linear Microdischarge Jet for Microbiological Applications

“…In view of the above, is considerably more sensitive to the plasma treatment than C. albicans, despite the fact that strains are much more resistant than C. albicans to antifungal drugs. 30 This indicates a mechanism of plasma action on these microorganisms that is completely different from the mechanisms of action of conventional antifungal agents. This problem requires further extensive research.…”

“…The plasma razor jet was tested as a treatment for pathogenic fungi using the reference strain of Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) as well as a selected strain of Prototheca (No I ). 30 The latter was isolated from milk samples collected in Opole Province, Poland, from cows with clinical or subclinical mastitis in 2015. Two treatment procedures were used to determine plasma activity in the interaction with fungal cells.…”

Protothecosis in humans and animals

“…Wielkiej Brytanii, USA, Włoszech, Niemczech, Belgii, Danii, Rumunii, Kanadzie, Nowej Zelandii, Serbii i Czarnogórze, Egipcie, Portugalii, Chinach czy Japonii [6,7,38,39,[40][41][42]. Do zakażenia krów mastitis, czego konsekwencją jest zapalenie wymienia, dochodzi, gdy w pobliżu jest bardzo duża ilość glonów z rodzaju Prototheca.…”