Bacteria from solid substrates

Bacterial Polysaccharides. Many bacterial species release exopolysaccharides into their environment. The synthesis of capsular and slime polysaccharides or similar sticky surface materials serves as an adhesive to attach the bacteria to solid substrates, even in a marine environment. These polysaccharides range from compositionally simple homopolymers to very complex heteropolymers composed of several individual sugars linked in a variety of ways. 

Evidence for direct bacterial attack upon the mineral surface comes from microscopy. The use of this technique has shown the attachment of bacteria to solid substrates, consistent with a direct role for bacteria in leaching. The adsorption of cells on suspended materials occurs within a few minutes. Detailed studies, illustrated by the following examples, have shown the attack of the bacteria to be selective with respect to the surface of the mineral, in notable contrast to attack by acidic solutions of Fe(III). 

The interaction of bacteria with solid surfaces including soil may have a variety of indirect and direct impacts on the cell (van Loosdrecht et al., 1990). Direct impacts result from changes in microbial membranes (e.g., permeability to various substrates) resulting from a surface interaction. Indirect impacts related to microbial activity are a result of modification of the immediate environment of the cell (e.g., alteration of substrate availability) (Harms Zehnder, 1994). The influences of soil colloids on general microbial processes (Stotzky, 1986) and biodegradation kinetics of organic contaminants (Scow, 1993) have been summarized. However, two areas specifically pertinent to bioremediation will be described. 

Environmental chemicals occur as pure liquid or solid compounds, dissolved in water or in nonaqueous liquids, volatilised in gases, dissolved in solids (absorbed) or bound to interfaces (adsorbed). Figure 5 gives a schematic view of the different physical states at which substrates are taken up by microbial cells. There is a consensus that water-dissolved chemicals are available to microbes. This is obvious for readily soluble chemicals, but there is also clear evidence for microbial uptake of the small dissolved fractions of poorly water soluble compounds. Rogoff already had shown in 1962 that bacteria take up phenanthrene from aqueous solution [55], In the intervening time many other researchers have made the same observation with various combinations of microorganisms and poorly soluble compounds [14,56,57]. 

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze reactions. Thousands of enzymes have been classified and there is no clear limit as to the number that exists in nature or that can be created artificially. Enzymes have one or more catalytic sites that are similar in principle to the active sites on a solid catalyst that are discussed in Chapter 10, but there are major differences in the nature of the sites and in the nature of the reactions they catalyze. Mass transport to the active site of an enzyme is usually done in the liquid phase. Reaction rates in moles per volume per time are several orders of magnitude lower than rates typical of solid-catalyzed gas reactions. Optimal temperatures for enzymatic reactions span the range typical of living organisms, from about 4°C for cold-water fish, to about 40°C for birds and mammals, to over 100°C for thermophilic bacteria. Enzymatic reactions require very specific molecular orientations before they can proceed. As compensation for the lower reaction rates, enzymatic reactions are highly selective. They often require specific stereoisomers as the reactant (termed the substrate in the jargon of biochemistry) and can generate stereospecific products. Enzymes are subject to inhibition and deactivation like other forms of catalysis. 

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