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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2007, p. 5227-5234, Vol. 73, No. 16
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00678-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Impact of Alginate Conditioning Film on Deposition Kinetics of Motile and Nonmotile Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strains{triangledown}

Alexis J. de Kerchove and Menachem Elimelech*

Department of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering Program, Yale University, P.O. Box 208286, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8286

Received 25 March 2007/ Accepted 8 June 2007

The initial deposition of bacteria in most aquatic systems is affected by the presence of a conditioning film adsorbed at the liquid-solid interface. Due to the inherent complexity of such films, their impact on bacterial deposition remains poorly defined. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the effect of a conditioning film on the deposition of motile and nonmotile Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells in a radial stagnation point flow system. A well-defined alginate film was used as a model conditioning film because of its polysaccharide and polyelectrolyte nature. Deposition experiments under favorable (nonrepulsive) conditions demonstrated the importance of swimming motility for cell transport towards the substrate. The impact of the flagella of motile cells on deposition is dependent on the presence of the conditioning film. We showed that on a clean substrate surface, electrostatic repulsion governs bacterial deposition and the presence of flagella increases cell deposition. However, our results suggest that steric interactions between flagella and extended polyelectrolytes of the conditioning film hinder cell deposition. At a high ionic strength (100 mM), active swimming motility and changes in alginate film structure suppressed the steric barrier and allowed conditions favorable for deposition. We demonstrated that bacterial deposition is highly influenced by cell motility and the structure of the conditioning film, which are both dependent on ionic strength.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering Program, Yale University, P.O. Box 208286, New Haven, CT 06520-8286. Phone: (203) 432-2789. Fax: (203) 432-2881. E-mail: menachem.elimelech{at}yale.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 15 June 2007.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2007, p. 5227-5234, Vol. 73, No. 16
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00678-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Murray, T. S., Kazmierczak, B. I. (2008). Pseudomonas aeruginosa Exhibits Sliding Motility in the Absence of Type IV Pili and Flagella. J. Bacteriol. 190: 2700-2708 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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