Nonthermal Plasma Jet Treatment Negatively Affects the Viability and Structure of Candida albicans SC5314 Biofilms.

Microorganisms are predominantly organized in biofilms, where cells live in dense communities and are more resistant to external stresses than are their planktonic counterparts. With in vitro experiments, the susceptibility of Candida albicans biofilms to a nonthermal plasma treatment (plasma source, kINPen09) in terms of growth, survival, and cell viability was investigated. C. albicans strain SC5314 (ATCC MYA-2876) was plasma treated for different time periods (30 s, 60 s, 120 s, 180 s, 300 s). The results of the experiments, encompassing CFU, fluorescence Live/Dead, and 2,3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide salt (XTT) assays, revealed a negative influence of the plasma treatment on the proliferation ability, vitality, and metabolism of C. albicans biofilms, respectively. Morphological analysis of plasma-treated biofilms using atomic force microscopy supported the indications for lethal plasma effects concomitant with membrane disruptions and the loss of intracellular fluid. Yielding controversial results compared to those of other publications, fluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopic inspection of plasma-treated biofilms indicated that an inactivation of cells appeared mainly on the bottom of the biofilms. If this inactivation leads to a detachment of the biofilms from the overgrown surface, it might offer completely new approaches in the plasma treatment of biofilms. Because of plasma's biochemical-mechanical mode of action, resistance of microbial cells against plasma is unknown at this state of research.IMPORTANCE Microbial communities are an increasing problem in medicine but also in industry. Thus, an efficient and rapid removal of biofilms is becoming increasingly important. With the aid of the kINPen09, a radiofrequency plasma jet (RFPJ) instrument, decisive new findings on the effects of plasma on C. albicans biofilms were obtained. This work showed that the inactivation of biofilms takes place mainly on the bottom, which in turn offers new possibilities for the removal of biofilms by other strategies, e.g., mechanical treatment. This result demonstrated that nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma is well suited for biofilm decontamination.

Modeling of microwave-induced plasma in argon at atmospheric pressure.

A two-dimensional model of microwave-induced plasma (field frequency 2.45 GHz) in argon at atmospheric pressure is presented. The model describes in a self-consistent manner the gas flow and heat transfer, the in-coupling of the microwave energy into the plasma, and the reaction kinetics relevant to high-pressure argon plasma including the contribution of molecular ion species. The model provides the gas and electron temperature distributions, the electron, ion, and excited state number densities, and the power deposited into the plasma for given gas flow rate and temperature at the inlet, and input power of the incoming TEM microwave. For flow rate and absorbed microwave power typical for analytical applications (200-400 ml/min and 20 W), the plasma is far from thermodynamic equilibrium. The gas temperature reaches values above 2000 K in the plasma region, while the electron temperature is about 1 eV. The electron density reaches a maximum value of about 4 × 10(21) m(-3). The balance of the charged particles is essentially controlled by the kinetics of the molecular ions. For temperatures above 1200 K, quasineutrality of the plasma is provided by the atomic ions, and below 1200 K the molecular ion density exceeds the atomic ion density and a contraction of the discharge is observed. Comparison with experimental data is presented which demonstrates good quantitative and qualitative agreement.