Assessment of correlation between physiological states of Escherichia coli cells and their susceptibility to chlorine using flow cytometry

The physiological differences of individual cells of bacterial population may imply the existence of cell subpopulations with different sensitivity to chlorine, which may affect the efficiency of drinking water disinfection. The susceptibility of individual bacterial cells to chlorine was examined using flow cytometry. The inactivation of Escherichia coli cells by chlorine in the populations with specific growth rates of 0.2 and 0.9 h⁻¹ was assessed using various viability indicators. Viability of bacterial cells was evaluated using membrane integrity propidium iodide (PI) dye, respiratory activity indicator of 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC) and membrane potential probe of DiBAC₄(3). It was found that there were cell subpopulations of E. coli with different levels of susceptibility to chlorine. E. coli cell population with higher specific growth rate was more susceptible to chlorine. The CT values for inactivation of 99% of cells (CT₉₉) in populations of E. coli with specific growth rates of 0.9 and 0.2 h⁻¹ were 0.06 and 0.09 mg min l⁻¹, respectively. Flow cytometry could be used to study the sensitivity of bacterial cells to the chemical agents.