24In recent years, there has been an increased interest in food processing technologies that 25 could lessen the thermal impact on food products. In the present study, thermosonication 26 (TS) and pulsed electric fields (PEF), applied individually or in combination (TS/PEF), 27were investigated to determine their effects on inactivation and sub-lethal injury of 28Pseudomonas fluorescens and Escherichia coli. TS was applied at a low (L) and high 29 (H) wave amplitude (L; 18.6µm, H; 27.9µm, respectively), while PEF was applied at a 30 low and high electrical field strength (L; 29kVcm -1 , H; 32kVcm -1 , respectively). In 31 addition, the inhibitory effects of TS/PEF combined were assessed. For P. fluorescens, 32 when applied individually, TS and PEF resulted in ≤9% and ≤47% inactivation, 33 respectively, with 8% sub-lethal injury following PEF treatment. However, TS/PEF 34 treatment caused ≤48% inactivation and ≤34% sub-lethal injury, respectively. For E. 35 coli, TS caused ≤6% inactivation, and ≤2% sub-lethal injury, while PEF treatment alone 36 caused inactivation and sub-lethal injury of 86% and 29%, respectively. TS/PEF caused 37 a maximum of 66% inactivation, while sub-lethally injuring approximately 26% of the 38 of E. coli population. The present study confirms the ability of TS and PEF to inactivate 39 microorganisms, but shows that some bacteria were not killed, but sub-lethally injured. 40 41