This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Marx, R. B.
Right arrow Articles by Aitken, M. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Marx, R. B.
Right arrow Articles by Aitken, M. D.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Marx, R. B.
Right arrow Articles by Aitken, M. D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 1999, p. 2847-2852, Vol. 65, No. 7
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Quantification of Chemotaxis to Naphthalene by Pseudomonas putida G7

Randall B. Marx* and Michael D. Aitken

Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7400

Received 6 August 1998/Accepted 15 April 1999

The capillary assay was used to quantify the chemotactic response of Pseudomonas putida G7 to naphthalene. Experiments were conducted in which the cell concentration in the assay chamber, the naphthalene concentration in the capillary, or the incubation time was varied. Data from these experiments were evaluated with a model that accounted for the effect of diffusion on the distribution of substrate and the transport of cells from the chamber through the capillary orifice. By fitting a numerical solution of this model to the data, it was possible to determine the chemotactic sensitivity coefficient, chi 0. The mean of the best-fit values for chi 0 from the three types of experiments was 7.2 × 10-5 cm2/s. A less computationally intensive model based on earlier approaches that ignore cell transport in the chamber resulted in chi 0 values that were approximately three times higher. The models evaluated in the present study could simulate the results of capillary assays only at low chamber cell concentrations, for which the effect of consumption on the distribution of substrate was negligible. Results from this work suggest that it is possible to use the capillary assay to quantify taxis towards environmentally relevant chemoeffectors that have low aqueous solubility.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, CB #7400, Rosenau Hall, School of Public Health, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400. Phone: (919) 966-3860. Fax: (919) 966-7911. E-mail: rmarx{at}emailunc.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 1999, p. 2847-2852, Vol. 65, No. 7
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Law, A. M. J., Aitken, M. D. (2005). Continuous-Flow Capillary Assay for Measuring Bacterial Chemotaxis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 3137-3143 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Van Hamme, J. D., Singh, A., Ward, O. P. (2003). Recent Advances in Petroleum Microbiology. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 67: 503-549 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Law, A. M. J., Aitken, M. D. (2003). Bacterial Chemotaxis to Naphthalene Desorbing from a Nonaqueous Liquid. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 5968-5973 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Park, J.-H., Feng, Y., Ji, P., Voice, T. C., Boyd, S. A. (2003). Assessment of Bioavailability of Soil-Sorbed Atrazine. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 3288-3298 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pandey, G., Jain, R. K. (2002). Bacterial Chemotaxis toward Environmental Pollutants: Role in Bioremediation. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 5789-5795 [Full Text]  
  • Parales, R. E., Ditty, J. L., Harwood, C. S. (2000). Toluene-Degrading Bacteria Are Chemotactic towards the Environmental Pollutants Benzene, Toluene, and Trichloroethylene. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 4098-4104 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»