Laser induced degradation of bacterial spores during micro-Raman spectroscopy

Micro-Raman spectroscopy combined with optical tweezers is a powerful method to analyze how the biochemical composition and molecular structures of individual biological objects change with time. In this work we investigate laser induced effects in the trapped object. Bacillus thuringiensis spores, which are robust organisms known for their resilience to light, heat, and chemicals are used for this study. We trap spores and monitor the Raman peak from CaDPA (calcium dipicolinic acid), which is a chemical protecting the spore core. We see a correlation between the amount of laser power used in the trap and the release of CaDPA from the spore. At a laser power of 5 mW, the CaDPA from spores in water suspension remain intact over the 90 min experiment, however, at higher laser powers an induced effect could be observed. SEM images of laser exposed spores (after loss of CaDPA Raman peak was confirmed) show a notable alteration of the spores' structure. Our Raman data indicates that the median dose exposure to lose the CaDPA peak was ∼60 J at 808 nm. For decontaminated/deactivated spores, i.e., treated in sodium hypochlorite or peracetic acid solutions, the sensitivity on laser power is even more pronounced and different behavior could be observed on spores treated by the two chemicals. Importantly, the observed effect is most likely photochemical since the increase of the spore temperature is in the order of 0.1 K as suggested by our numerical multiphysics model. Our results show that care must be taken when using micro-Raman spectroscopy on biological objects since photoinduced effects may substantially affect the results.