EQUILIBRIUM MODELING OF PSEUDOMONAD AGGREGATION AND PARTITIONING TO DOLOMITE

Bioremediation is a common treatment technology considered for the rem ediation of many toxic and hazardous waste sites. In order for this te chnology to be successfully implemented, the mobility and adhesion cha racteristics of the microorganisms must be understood. This study expl ored the surface and adhesion characteristics of two pseudomonads: Pse udomonas aeruginosa Olin and P. fluorescens rib:lux. In general, the L ewis acid/base character of these microorganisms dominated surface the rmodynamics. In both cases partitioning to dolomite, a common mineral, was predicted to be greatest in the stationary phase. In the log grow th and decay phases, the Lewis acid/base interaction energy was repuls ive for both organisms. The stationary phase ibr both microbes exhibit ed a reversal of the Lewis acid/base energy to attractive. Although th e magnitude of the various surface energy components differed between the microorganism, it is remarkable that the Lewis acid/base energy ex hibited similar behavior.