This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports research by Dr. Dale Margerum and collaborators at Purdue University to study the decontamination mechanism of bacterial spores by chlorine dioxide at both the chemical and biological levels. Chlorine dioxide is an effective oxidizing and disinfecting agent that is used to inactivate pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. An understanding of the mechanism by which chlorine dioxide inactivates bacterial pathogens and spores will help advance the application of this technology to other critical areas such as biodefense systems, agriculture anti-bioterrorism, environmental clean-up, and food production. This research will investigate the kinetics of bactericidal and sporicidal activity of chlorine dioxide gas, as a function of physical and chemical factors, such as concentration, exposure time, relative humidity, and temperature. The kinetics and mechanisms of the reactions of amino acids and peptides with chlorine dioxide in aqueous solution will also be studied with special attention to chlorine-containing redox by-products and its reaction with sulfhydryl and disulfide groups.
The award serves to initiate a collaboration between research groups in the Department of Chemistry and in the Department of Food Science at Purdue University thereby providing professors, research scientists, post-doctoral associates, as well as students from underrepresented groups an opportunity to learn from the experience of researchers in other fields. Long-range applications of understanding the mechanisms whereby chlorine dioxide inactivates bacteria and spores may lead to a lower vulnerability to bio-terrorism and safer food.
