Analysis of the Inactivation Mechanism of Bacteriophage $\varphi \hbox {X}174$ by Atmospheric Pressure Discharge Plasma

Virus inactivation methods using atmospheric pressure discharge plasma have been actively studied these days. However, the predominant factor of the inactivation is not yet well understood. We believe that bacteriophages, which consist of only two components of nucleic acids and coat proteins, are suitable for the study of the inactivation mechanism because their simple structure can enable simple and clear analysis of the mechanisms. In this paper, inactivation of bacteriophage φX174, having some characteristics similar to influenza virus, was investigated using dielectric barrier discharge or corona discharge. In this experimental system using bacteriophage φX174, by transfection, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) activity can be separately analyzed from other factors such as coat proteins since it is possible to extract the nucleic acids from the bacteriophage. The coat proteins of the bacteriophage φX174 can be separately analyzed from its DNA as well. Plasma inactivation experiments were made in both wet and dry conditions. As a result, damage was found on both the DNA and the coat proteins of bacteriophage φX174 when it was exposed to the plasma. It was found that the damages given to the coat proteins were more predominant compared with the damages on the DNA.