Selection Rules on Helicity during Discrete Transitions of the Genome Conformational State in Intact and X-Rayed Cells of E.Coli in Millimeter Range of Electromagnetic Field

Abstract

The method of viscosity anomalous time dependence (VATD) was applied to study the influence of extremely high frequency (EHF) electromagnetic radiation (EMR) on the genome conformational state (GCS) of E. coli cells. The cells were exposed to EMR at resonant frequencies of the two earlier discovered frequency bands (41.25-41.50 GHz and 51.62-51.84 GHz) in which non-thermal microwaves suppressed resonantly the reparation of X-ray induced changes in GCS. The use of a unit with quarter-wave plates to obtain circularly polarized EMR confirmed the existence of selection rules on helicity during discrete transitions of GCS in the millimeter range of the electromagnetic field. At the resonant frequency of the second resonance (51.76 GHz) right-handed polarized microwaves effectively influence GCS of X-rayed cells, while left-handed polarized EMR is virtually ineffective and linear polarization’s effectiveness lies between the two circular polarizations. Conversely, left-handed polarized EHF EMR is effective when x-rayed cells are exposed to microwaves at the resonant frequency of the first resonance (41.32 GHz). It was shown that the difference in the effectiveness of the two circularly polarized components of EMR increases when the ellipticity coefficient goes down from 1.2 to 1.05.

It was established that the sign of effective circularly polarized EHF EMR does not depend on the sequence in which the cells are exposed to microwaves and X-rays. Yet when intact cells are exposed to microwaves at each of the two resonant frequencies, the effectiveness of the circularly polarized components is inverted. The registered effects are non-thermal and manifest themselves at the power density of 1 µW/cm².

The results confirm the role of the cell genome in the resonance response of cells to low-intensity millimeter waves and are described from the standpoint of the physical concept on the role of the electromagnetic field in the functioning of cells.