Free Radical Concentration in Irradiated Bacterial Spores and Vegetative Cells as Measured by the ESR Method

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Abstract
Radiation-produced free radicals in dry spores and vegetative cells of Bacillus subtilis were studied by the ESR [electron spin resonance] method. Dry cells were sealed with nitrogen gas and irradiated with Co60 gamma rays at a dose rate of 0.81 Mrads/hr. In spores, the radical concentration reached the saturation level at about 5 Mrads. The effect of the anoxic heat treatment applied after irradiation was most clearly shown in the decay pattern of the radicals. Irradiation in the presence of oxygen considerably decreased the radical concentration. In vegetative cells, on the other hand, a different pattern of the behavior of radicals was observed. These radical behavior showed a close correlation with the restoration phenomenon in biological activities of postirradiation-treated cells found by Powers and others (1960) and subsequently investigated by Tanooka and Hutchinson (1965).

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