[Analysis of the potential for restoring E. coli cells, aerosolized in 30% relative humidity, by systems that repair...

The mutants, defective due to a complex of damages caused by UV radiation, are considerably more sensitive to aerosol dispersal under conditions of 30% relative humidity than their parent strains. The sensitivity of bacteria to dispersal by aerosol, equally increasing in case of mutations in any of the tested reparative genes, is not linked with their incapability to repair DNA damages, but should be rather considered as a pleiotropic effect. Strains E. coli K12 are somewhat more sensitive to aerosol dispersal than E. coli B when sprayed on fiberglass under conditions of 30% relative humidity.