Interactions of clay minerals with Arthrobacter crystallopoietes: starvation, survival and 2-hydroxypyridine catabolism

For bacterial inoculants to be effective in soil remediation, the bacterial strain must be capable of overcoming any negative effects of soil minerals on cellular processes. One class of minerals commonly encountered by soil bacteria is clays. Thus, the effect of commonly occurring clay minerals in soils on starvation, survival and 2-hydroxypyridine catabolism by Arthrobacter crystallopoietes was evaluated. Stationary phase A. crystallopoietes cells were suspended in 0.03M, pH7.0, phosphate buffer containing no clay or amended with 0.2% (wt/vol) montmorillonite, sodium montmorillonite or kaolinite. Marked effects of clay minerals on both survival rates and catabolic rates of 2-hydroxypyridine were noted. For example, after 14 weeks starvation, 4.6% of the initial cell population was viable with no clay present, compared to 0.8% (montmorillonite), 22.1% (kaolinite) and 54.1% (sodium montmorillonite) in the presence of the clay minerals. Acclimated and nonacclimated cell populations were used to evaluate 2-hydroxypyridine catabolism. Induction of 2-hydroxypyridine metabolism occurred in the unacclimated cells following starvation. Differential impact of the clay minerals on unacclimated cells was detected. Montmorillonite enhanced the capacity for induction of 2-hydroxypyridine catabolism and its decomposition rate after 0–3 days starvation. For acclimated cells, clay did not affect the metabolic activity prior to starvation, but the presence of clay resulted in increased activity during starvation. For example, after 3 days starvation, a nearly two fold increase in metabolism was detected in the presence of clay minerals. These data suggest that some clay minerals in soil alter the survival time and metabolic activity of soil-amended bacteria, thereby affecting the potential for bioremediation success. Received: 1 March 1996