EFFECT OF LOW-TEMPERATURE PLASMA TREATMENT ON THE GROWTH AND REPRODUCTION RATE OF SOME PLANT PATHOGENIC BACTERIA

Atmospheric pressure plasmas have received much attention lately as a promising physical tool for biological decontamination and sterilization. Two phytopathogenic bacterial species, Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis and Erwinia amylovora, and one cosmopolitan bacterium, Escherichia coli (control), were employed to study the bacterial growth mechanism after exposure to the atmospheric pressure GlidArc plasma. The results have shown that low-temperature plasma treatment affects all three bacterial species by slowing down growth and reproduction rate. After plasma treatment, both Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli and E. amylovora) reached their maximum growth sooner than the Gram-positive C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis. This is however caused by a longer cultivation period of Clavibacter bacterial genus. The application of GlidArc plasma is a suitable treatment that can be used in agriculture for plant protection.