Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Journals |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10653-008-9146-0 |
| Document | Shareable Link |
| Title (Primary) | Effect of electrokinetic transport on the vulnerability of PAH-degrading bacteria in a model aquifer |
| Author | Shi, L.; Müller, S.; Harms, H.; Wick, L.Y. |
| Source Titel | Environmental Geochemistry and Health |
| Year | 2008 |
| Department | UMB |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Page From | 177 |
| Page To | 182 |
| Language | englisch |
| Keywords | Bioavailability; Electro-bioremediation; Electrokinetics; Flow cytometry; Propidium iodide; Cell viability; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons |
| Abstract | There has been increasing interest in employing electro-bioremediation, a hybrid technology of bioremediation and electrokinetics, to overcome the low bioavailability of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOC) by homogenizing sorption-retarded HOC and immobilised microorganisms. Present electro-remediation approaches mainly aim at macroscale pollutant extraction and tend to neglect possible impacts of direct current (DC) on the physiology of microorganisms. The effect of weak electric fields (X = 1 V cm-1) on the fitness of electrokinetically dispersed fluorene-degrading Sphingomonas sp. LB126 in bench-scale model aquifers was investigated by flow cytometry using propidium iodide (PI) as an indicator that distinguishes between PI-permeable (cells with porous membranes, i.e. dead or vulnerable) and PI-impermeable bacteria. After 15.5 h of DC treatment 56% of all cells recovered were dispersed at the centimetre scale relative to 29% in the absence of DC. There was no overall negative effect of the 15.5-h DC treatment on cell vulnerability, as 7.0% of the DC-treated bacteria exhibited PI-staining compared to 6.5% of the control population. Minor differences were observed in the subpopulation that had been mobilised by electroosmosis with an approximately twofold increase in the percentage of PI-stained cells relative to the control. Enhanced PI staining did not correlate with reduced culturability of the cells on rich-medium agar plates. Relative to the control, DC-treated cells mobilised by electroosmosis were threefold more culturable, confirming earlier data that that PI-cell membrane permeability does not always indicate reduced viability of oligotrophic environmental bacteria. Our findings suggest that electrokinetics is a valuable mechanism to transport viable and culturable polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-degrading bacteria in soil or sediments. |
| Persistent UFZ Identifier | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=1454 |
| Shi, L., Müller, S., Harms, H., Wick, L.Y. (2008): Effect of electrokinetic transport on the vulnerability of PAH-degrading bacteria in a model aquifer Environ. Geochem. Health 30 (2), 177 - 182 10.1007/s10653-008-9146-0 |
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