Effects of Temperature, pH and Salt Concentrations on the Adsorption of Bacillus subtilis on Soil Clay Minerals Investigated by Microcalorimetry

Abstract

Adsorption of microorganisms on minerals is a ubiquitous interfacial phenomenon in soil. Knowledge of the extent and mechanisms of bacterial adsorption on minerals is of great agronomic and environmental importance. This study examined adsorption of Bacillus subtilis on three common minerals in soils such as kaolinite, montmorillonite and goethite under various environmental conditions. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was used to investigate the effects of temperature (20, 30, and 40°C), pH (5.0, 7.0, and 9.0) and KNO₃ concentration (0.001, 0.01, and 0.1 mol L⁻¹) on the adsorption by direct measurement of enthalpies. The results revealed that the adsorption process in all the mineral systems were exothermic, with the enthalpy changes (ΔH_ads ) ranging from −52 to −137, −33 to −147, and −53 to −141 kJ kg⁻¹ (dry weight of adsorbed bacteria) for kaolinite, montmorillonite, and goethite, respectively. No obvious dependence of ΔH_ads on temperature was observed. The heat release for all the systems generally declined with pH and decrease of salt concentration, which can be explained by the variations of hydrophobicity and electrostatic force with pH or salt concentration. The largest decrease was found for goethite among the three minerals from pH 5.0 to 7.0, suggesting that electrostatic attraction may play a more important role in bacterial adsorption on this mineral. The ΔH_ads values for all the minerals became nearly the same at pH 9.0, indicating that the same force probably hydrophobicity governing the adsorption for the minerals in alkaline environment. It is assumed that acidic or saline soils and the associated environments favor the adsorption of B. subtilis on clay minerals. In addition, the negative enthalpies expressed as kJ kg⁻¹ (carbon) revealed an energy flow into the environment accompanied by the carbon adsorption on the minerals in soil.

Keywords:

• microcalorimetry
• adsorption
• Bacillus subtilis
• soil mineral
• enthalpy

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40825002) for the financial support of the research. Journal reviews by the anaoymous reviewers significantly improved the presentation of the study.