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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2003, p. 5968-5973, Vol. 69, No. 10
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.10.5968-5973.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Bacterial Chemotaxis to Naphthalene Desorbing from a Nonaqueous Liquid

Aaron M. J. Law* and Michael D. Aitken

Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599

Received 10 April 2003/ Accepted 10 July 2003

Bacterial chemotaxis has the potential to increase the rate of degradation of chemoattractants, but its influence on degradation of hydrophobic attractants initially dissolved in a non-aqueous-phase liquid (NAPL) has not been examined. We studied the effect of chemotaxis by Pseudomonas putida G7 on naphthalene mass transfer and degradation in a system in which the naphthalene was dissolved in a model NAPL. Chemotaxis by wild-type P. putida G7 increased the rates of naphthalene desorption and degradation relative to rates observed with nonchemotactic and nonmotile mutant strains. While biodegradation alone influenced the rate of substrate desorption by increasing the concentration gradient against which desorption occurred, chemotaxis created an even steeper gradient as the cells accumulated near the NAPL source. The extent to which chemotaxis affected naphthalene desorption and degradation depended on the initial bacterial and naphthalene concentrations, reflecting the influences of these variables on concentration gradients and on the relative rates of mass transfer and biodegradation. The results of this study suggest that chemotaxis can substantially increase the rates of mass transfer and degradation of NAPL-associated hydrophobic pollutants.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, CB 7431, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431. Phone: (919) 966-3860. Fax: (919) 966-7911. E-mail: aaron_law{at}unc.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2003, p. 5968-5973, Vol. 69, No. 10
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.10.5968-5973.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Liu, X., Parales, R. E. (2009). Bacterial Chemotaxis to Atrazine and Related s-Triazines. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 5481-5488 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • 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]  


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