Water Science and Technology Vol 39 No 7 pp 91–98 © IWA Publishing 1999
The role of (bio)surfactant sorption in promoting the bioavailability of nutrients localized at the solid-water interface
Ryan N. Jordan, Eric P. Nichols and Alfred B. Cunningham
Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University-Bozeman, 366 EPS Building, P.O. Box 173980 Bozeman, MT 59717-3980 USA
ABSTRACT
Bioavailability is herein defined as the accessibility of a substrate by a microorganism. Further, bioavailability is governed by (1) the substrate concentration that the cell membrane "sees," (i.e., the "directly bioavailable" pool) as well as (2) the rate of mass transfer from potentially bioavailable (e.g., nonaqueous) phases to the directly bioavailable (e.g., aqueous) phase. Mechanisms by which sorbed (bio)surfactants influence these two processes are discussed. We propose the hypothesis that the sorption of (bio)surfactants at the solid-liquid interface is partially responsible for the increased bioavailability of surface-bound nutrients, and offer this as a basis for suggesting the development of engineered in-situ bioremediation technologies that take advantage of low (bio)surfactant concentrations. In addition, other industrial systems where bioavailability phenomena should be considered are addressed.
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