The main bactericidal components of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) are thought to be reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) and UV-radiation, both of which have the capacity to cause DNA damage and mutations. Here, the mutagenic effects of CAP on Escherichia coli were assessed in comparison to X- and UV-irradiation. DNA damage and mutagenesis were screened for using a diffusion-based DNA fragmentation assay and modified Ames test, respectively. Mutant colonies obtained from the latter were quantitated and sequenced. CAP was found to elicit a similar mutation spectrum to X-irradiation, which did not resemble that for UV implying that CAP-produced RONS are more likely the mutagenic component of CAP. CAP treatment was also shown to promote resistance to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. Our data suggest that CAP treatment has mutagenic effects that may have important phenotypic consequences.

中文翻译：

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与大肠杆菌中已知诱变剂相关的冷大气等离子体射流处理诱导的突变评估

冷大气等离子体 (CAP) 的主要杀菌成分被认为是活性氧和氮 (RONS) 以及紫外线辐射，它们都具有导致 DNA 损伤和突变的能力。在这里，CAP 对大肠杆菌的诱变作用与 X 射线和紫外线照射相比进行了评估。DNA 损伤和诱变分别使用基于扩散的 DNA 片段化测定和改良的 Ames 测试进行筛选。对从后者获得的突变菌落进行定量和测序。发现 CAP 会引发与 X 辐照相似的突变谱，这与紫外线照射的突变谱不同，这意味着 CAP 产生的 RONS 更可能是 CAP 的诱变成分。CAP 治疗也被证明可以促进对抗生素环丙沙星的耐药性。