INACTIVATION BY MONOCHROMATIC NEAR-UV RADIATION OF AN Escherichia coli hemA8 MUTANT GROWN WITH AND WITHOUT δ-AMINOLEVULINIC ACID: THE ROLE OF DNA vs MEMBRANE DAMAGE

Abstract— Escherichia coli strain RT8 hemA8 [blocked in biosynthesis of δ-aminolevulinic acid (δ-ALA), and unable to manufacture porphyrins unless exogenously supplied with δ-ALA] is inactivated more efficiently by monochromatic 334- and 405-nm radiations if the cells are grown with δ-ALA supplementation. The fiuence enhancement factor for δ-ALA sensitization is larger for light at 405 nm than at 334 nm. Both irradiation conditions (plus or minus δ-ALA) showed prominent oxygen enhancement ratios, which were also larger at 405 nm than at 334 nm. At 334 nm, δ-ALA supplementation did not affect the accumulation of DNA breaks, while at 405 nm, the induction of DNA breaks doubled for cells supplemented with δ-ALA. Rubidium leakage caused by 405-nm radiation occurred at a smaller fiuence in cells supplemented with higher concentrations of δ-ALA than in cells supplemented with a lower concentration. The results suggest that (1) porphyrin derivatives may have a role in cell killing by near-UV radiations, and (2) damage to cytomembranes may be a critical lesion produced by these events, whereas DNA breakage may not.