This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kjelleberg, S. Articles by Marshall, K. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kjelleberg, S. Articles by Marshall, K. C. Agricola Articles by Kjelleberg, S. Articles by Marshall, K. C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1982 May; 43(5): 1166-1172

Effect of Interfaces on Small, Starved Marine Bacteria

Staffan Kjelleberg, Beverley A. Humphrey and Kevin C. Marshall

School of Microbiology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, N.S.W. 2033, Australia

ABSTRACT

The copiotrophic marine Vibrio sp. strain DW1, shown previously in batch culture to increase in numbers at the onset of starvation and then to form viable small cells with low endogenous respiration, appears to have a survival advantage at interfaces. Vibrio sp. strain DW1 behaved differently at interfaces compared with the aqueous phase under starvation conditions: (i) small cells were observed at an air-water interface without nutrients, (ii) nutrients added to the air-water interface quickly produced larger cells at the surface, (iii) motility persisted many hours longer at the solid-water interface of a dialysis membrane in a microchamber at the onset of starvation, and (iv) regrowth and division at the solid-liquid interface occurred quickly and at nutrient concentrations too low to permit growth in the aqueous phase. It was concluded that, if small starved cells from copiotrophic bacteria can reach an interface, additional survival mechanisms become available to them: (i) interfaces constitute areas of favorable nutrient conditions, and (ii) interfaces lacking a sufficient amount of nutrient, nevertheless, trigger cells to become smaller, thus increasing their surface/volume ratio and the packing density.

Present address: Department of Marine Microbiology, University of Göteborg, Carl Skottsbergs Gata 22, S-413 19 Göteborg, Sweden.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Elfwing, A., LeMarc, Y., Baranyi, J., Ballagi, A. (2004). Observing Growth and Division of Large Numbers of Individual Bacteria by Image Analysis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 675-678 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Eilers, H., Pernthaler, J., Amann, R. (2000). Succession of Pelagic Marine Bacteria during Enrichment: a Close Look at Cultivation-Induced Shifts. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 4634-4640 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Roden, E. E., Urrutia, M. M., Mann, C. J. (2000). Bacterial Reductive Dissolution of Crystalline Fe(III) Oxide in Continuous-Flow Column Reactors. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 1062-1065 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mizunoe, Y., Wai, S. N., Takade, A., Yoshida, S.-I. (1999). Isolation and Characterization of Rugose Form of Vibrio cholerae O139 Strain MO10. Infect. Immun. 67: 958-963 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Wai, S. N., Mizunoe, Y., Takade, A., Kawabata, S.-I., Yoshida, S.-I. (1998). Vibrio cholerae O1 Strain TSI-4 Produces the Exopolysaccharide Materials That Determine Colony Morphology, Stress Resistance, and Biofilm Formation. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64: 3648-3655 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pedley, S., Howard, G. (1997). The public health implications of microbiological contamination of groundwater. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology 30: 179-188 [Abstract]  
• Van Loosdrecht, M. C.M., Norde, W., Zehnder, A.J.B. (1990). Physical Chemical Description of Bacterial Adhesion. J Biomater Appl 5: 91-106 [Abstract]