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Adhesion of a Pseudomonas putida strain isolated from a paper machine to cellulose fibres

  • Applied Microbial and Cell Physiology
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Abstract

The adhesion to cellulose fibres of a strain of Pseudomonas putida isolated from a paper machine was studied under different environmental conditions. The physicochemical properties of both P. putida cells and cellulose fibres were also determined to better understand the adhesion phenomenon. Adhesion was rapid (1 min) and increased with time, cell concentration and temperature (from 25 to 40°C), indicating that bacterial adhesion to cellulose fibres is essentially governed by a physicochemical process. The P. putida cell surface was negatively charged, as shown by electrophoretic mobility measurements, and was hydrophilic due to a strong electron-donor character, as shown by the microbial adhesion to solvents method. Cellulose fibres were shown to be hydrophilic by contact angle measurements using the capillary rise method. These results suggest the importance of Lewis acid-base interactions in the adhesion process. In various ionic solutions (NaCl, KCl, CaCl2 and MgCl2), adhesion increased with increasing ionic strength up to 10–100 mM, indicating that, at low ionic strength, electrostatic interactions were involved in the adhesion process. An increase in the C/N ratio of the growth medium (from 5 to 90) decreased adhesion but this could not be related to changes in physicochemical properties, suggesting that other factors may be involved. In practice, temperature, ionic strength and nitrogen concentration must be taken into consideration to reduce bacterial contamination in the paper industry.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Dr. Marie-Noëlle Bellon-Fontaine for her advice and helpful discussions. This work was supported by the European Economic Community contract ENV4-CT 95-0065.

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Author notes

  1. D. Lecouturier

    Present address: Laboratoire de Technologie des Substances Naturelles, Institut Universitaire de Technologie A, Université Lille 1, BP 179, 59653, Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Génie des Procédés Industriels UMR CNRS 6067, Génie Chimique, Centre de Recherche de Royallieu, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, BP 529, 60205, Compiègne Cedex, France

    A. Rochex, D. Lecouturier, I. Pezron & J.-M. Lebeault

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  1. A. Rochex
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  2. D. Lecouturier
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  4. J.-M. Lebeault
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Correspondence to A. Rochex.

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Rochex, A., Lecouturier, D., Pezron, I. et al. Adhesion of a Pseudomonas putida strain isolated from a paper machine to cellulose fibres. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 65, 727–733 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-004-1605-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-004-1605-7

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