RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Survival and Raman spectroscopy analysis of spores after
sodium hypochlorite treatment
Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) is an inexpensive and common decontaminant,
and a concentration of 0.5% has been reported to kill spores [21].
In addition, sodium hypochlorite degrades organic matter through a
variety of reactions such as saponification of fatty acids,
neutralization of amino acids, and ammoniation [22]. Therefore, the
treatment of spores with sodium hypochlorite can cause damage to lipids,
proteins, and DNA.
In this study, two methods were used to record spore survival, plate
culture and live-cell imaging techniques. The survival of spores after
sodium hypochlorite treatment was significantly lower than that of
untreated spores and showed a decreasing trend with increasing treatment
time (Figure 2 (a) ). In addition, the maximum difference (5
min) in spore survival obtained using these two methods was
~3%, indicating that the results obtained using dynamic
live-cell imaging were consistent with the actual status of spores
before and after treatment.