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UV-C LED wavelength effects on inactivation kinetics, DNA damage and membrane integrity in drinking water indicator bacteria
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  • Published: 03 April 2026

UV-C LED wavelength effects on inactivation kinetics, DNA damage and membrane integrity in drinking water indicator bacteria

  • João Sério1,2,
  • Carolina Santos1,2,
  • Maria Eduarda Martins1,
  • Ana Paula Marques1 nAff3,
  • Carolina Feliciano2,
  • Mónica Serrano2,
  • Adriano O. Henriques2,
  • Maria Teresa Barreto Crespo1,2 &
  • …
  • Vanessa Jorge Pereira1,2 

Scientific Reports (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Biological techniques
  • Biotechnology
  • Environmental sciences
  • Microbiology

Abstract

Ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have emerged as a promising technology for water disinfection, offering selectable wavelengths that enable more precise targeting of specific cellular components. This study evaluated the inactivation efficiency of water quality indicators with different cell morphologies and envelope organization, Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Enterococcus faecium (Gram-positive), including both environmental and culture collection strains, using UV-C LEDs that emit light at 255 nm, 260 nm, 265 nm, 270 nm, and 280 nm. Inactivation kinetics as well as post-exposure repair, under dark and light conditions, were evaluated. Fluorescence microscopy observations and cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer formation were analyzed to elucidate morphological changes and DNA damage. Within the tested range, 265 nm LEDs achieved the highest inactivation rates for E. coli at a given UV fluence, consistent with the DNA absorption maximum in the 260–270 nm region. In contrast, E. faecium showed similar inactivation between 260 and 270 nm. Nevertheless, all tested wavelengths demonstrated high efficacy, achieving up to 6-log inactivation of both culture collection and environmental strains at low UV fluences (below 7 mJ/cm²). E. faecium showed enhanced resilience at lower fluences for all the wavelengths tested. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that both membrane integrity and DNA structure were increasingly affected by higher UV fluences, although signs of DNA damage were more pronounced and detectable even at lower exposure levels. Additionally, none of the strains tested showed considerable photoreactivation or dark repair capability, implying that the induced DNA lesions were largely irreversible under our experimental conditions. This study shows the efficacy of UV-C LEDs for water disinfection across a range of wavelengths, particularly at 265 nm, highlighting the important contribution of DNA damage to bacterial inactivation, and emphasizing their applicability for the water industry.

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Data availability

Data is provided within the manuscript or supplementary information files.

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Funding

This work was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (FCT/MCTES, Portugal) through the projects PTDC/EAM-AMB/1561/2021, 2022.12621.BD (DOI identifier - https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.12621.BD) as well as the Stimulus of Scientific Employment Grant CEECIND/02919/2018.

This work was also supported by the Research Units Green-it Bioresources for Sustainability (UID/04551/2025, DOI: 10.54499/UID/04551/2025; UID/PRR/04551/2025, DOI: 10.54499/UID/PRR/04551/2025) and UID/04462: iNOVA4Health – Programme in Translational Medicine, financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Educação, Ciência e Inovação, as well as the Associate Laboratory LS4FUTURE (LA/P/0087/2020).

This work was partially supported by PPBI - Portuguese Platform of BioImaging (PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122) co-funded by national funds from OE - “Orçamento de Estado” and by European funds from FEDER - “Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional”.

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  1. Ana Paula Marques

    Present address: INIAV, IP - Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária - Pólo de Inovação Dois Portos, Quinta da Almoinha, 2565-191, Dois Portos, Portugal

Authors and Affiliations

  1. iBET - Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Apartado 12, 2781-901, Oeiras, Portugal

    João Sério, Carolina Santos, Maria Eduarda Martins, Ana Paula Marques, Maria Teresa Barreto Crespo & Vanessa Jorge Pereira

  2. Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, Oeiras, 2780-157, Portugal

    João Sério, Carolina Santos, Carolina Feliciano, Mónica Serrano, Adriano O. Henriques, Maria Teresa Barreto Crespo & Vanessa Jorge Pereira

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Contributions

Vanessa Pereira: Conceptualization; João Sério, Carolina Santos, Maria Eduarda Martins, Ana Paula Marques and Carolina Feliciano: Research and investigation; Vanessa Pereira, Ana Paula Marques, Maria Teresa Barreto Crespo, Mónica Serrano and Adriano Henriques: Methodology and supervision; João Sério: Writing – original draft; All authors: Writing – review & editing.

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Correspondence to Vanessa Jorge Pereira.

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Sério, J., Santos, C., Martins, M.E. et al. UV-C LED wavelength effects on inactivation kinetics, DNA damage and membrane integrity in drinking water indicator bacteria. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44556-8

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  • Received: 18 September 2025

  • Accepted: 12 March 2026

  • Published: 03 April 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44556-8

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Keywords

  • Water treatment
  • Disinfection
  • Ultraviolet light emitting diodes
  • Wavelengths
  • Water quality indicators
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Water pollution and advanced treatment processes

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