[Determination, by the electro-optical method, of the number of undamaged bacterial cells after extreme exposures]

The results of electro-optical measurements can be used to determine rapidly how the number of intact cells decreases before and after the action of certain extreme factors. The experiments were conducted with suspensions of Escherichia coli and Bacillus thuringiensis cells subjected to the action of heat, toluene, ethanol, and freezing. Electro-optical measurements can make it possible to assay the relative number of cells with both lethal and sublethal damages.