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Updated: Nov 28, 2025

LED-Based In Vitro Screening for Assessing Photoactivable Molecules in Bacterial Photodynamic Inactivation
Published on: January 24, 2025
Variability in microbial inactivation: From deterministic Bigelow model to probability distribution of single cell
Zafiro Aspridou1, Konstantinos Koutsoumanis1
1Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Hygiene, Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Abstract:
Phenotypic heterogeneity seems to be an important component leading to biological individuality and is of great importance in the case of microbial inactivation. Bacterial cells are characterized by their own resistance to stresses. This inherent stochasticity is reflected in microbial survival curve which, in this context, can be considered as cumulative probability distribution of lethal events. The objective of the present study was to present an overview on the assessment and quantification of variability in microbial inactivation originating from single cells and discuss this heterogeneity in the context of predicting microbial behavior and Risk assessment studies. The detailed knowledge of the distribution of the single cells' inactivation times can be the basis for stochastic inactivation models which, in turn, may be employed in a risk - based food safety approach.
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