Kinetic studies of attachment and detachment of microbial cells from soil

A mathematical model was developed to describe the kinetics of cell attachment and detachment from soil. Soil-column experiments were performed to evaluate the model parameters. Pseudomonas putida G7 capable of degrading naphthalene was used as a model microorganism. A sediment sample taken from an uncontaminated area near a coal tar waste site in upstate New York, USA was used as a test soil. The kinetics of cell attachment and detachment from the model soil could be described by the developed first-order model. The equilibrium constant of attachment (11.4 ml g⁻¹), the rate coefficient of cell attachment (0.299 ml g⁻¹ min⁻¹), and the rate coefficient of cell detachment (0.0263 min⁻¹) were determined from the soil-column experiments. The equilibrium constant of attachment determined in this study (11.4 ml g⁻¹) was within the range of those reported in the literature for bacterial attachment to soil (0.55 to 12.6 ml g⁻¹). The kinetic model successfully predicted the data of batch experiments for cell attachment and detachment from soil.