Relationship between Cell Surface Properties and Transport of Bacteria through Soil

Abstract

A study was conducted to relate the properties of Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Achromobacter, Flavobacterium, and Arthrobacter strains to their transport with water moving through soil. The bacteria differed markedly in their extent of transport; their hydrophobicity, as measured by adherence to n-octane and by hydrophobic-interaction chromatography; and their net surface electrostatic charge, as determined by electrostatic interaction chromatography and by measurements of the zeta potential. Transport of the 19 strains through Kendaia loam or their retention by this soil was not correlated with hydrophobicities or net surface charges of the cells or the presence of capsules. Among 10 strains tested, the presence of flagella was also not correlated with transport. Retention was statistically related to cell size, with bacteria shorter than 1.0 ,lm usually showing higher percentages of cells being transported through the soil. We suggest that more than one characteristic of bacterial cells determines whether the organisms are transported through soil with moving water.

Application of the microbial community coalescence concept to riverine networks

“…clay-dominated geology), given the same rainfall event, a proportionally greater volume of water is likely to flow over the surrounding floodplain soil, picking up soil particles and associated microorganisms before reaching a receiving stream or river. Microbial size (Gannon, Manilal, & Alexander, 1991) and cell surface characteristics, as well as soil properties (Huysman & Verstraete, 1993) and the presence of preferential flow pathways in the soil such as macropores (Martins et al, 2013) could affect the size and composition of the transported community. In addition to geology, magnitude and duration of rainfall event, and time of year are also important; greater volumes of runoff will enter streams following high-intensity and/or long-duration storm events especially when antecedent soil moisture deficit is low (Heppell et al, 2002).…”

Characterization of the surface hydrophobicity of filamentous fungi

“…The physicochemical properties of the cell surfaces are known to control the interactions between microorganisms and interfaces. The assessment of microbial cell surface hydrophobicity as one of the surface properties influencing microbial adhesion and transport in heterogeneous media has been well established (van Loosdrecht et al ., 1987;Gannon et al ., 1991). Methods such as microbial adhesion to hydrocarbons (MATH), hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) and contact angle measurements (CAM) are widely used (reviewed in Doyle and Rosenberg, 1990).…”

INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SOIL, TOXICANT, AND A lux-MARKED BACTERIUM DURING SOLID PHASE–CONTACT TOXICITY TESTING

“…to soil, that adsorption was greater to a clay loam than to a sandy soil, and that adsorption could be increased in the presence of divalent cations. Gannon et al [28] noted that even when bacterial cells were grown under identical conditions, the nonuniformity of the bacterial surface may cause a bacterium to be hydrophilic in one assay and hydrophobic in another. Clearly, many physicochemical and microbiological factors influence the adsorption of bacteria to soil, and Lawrence and Hendry [29] have reviewed these in more detail.…”