Role of ionic strength on the relationship of biopolymer conformation, DLVO contributions, and steric interactions to bioadhesion of Pseudomonas putida KT2442.

Biopolymers produced extracellularly by Pseudomonas putida KT2442 were examined via atomic force microscopy (AFM) and single molecule force spectroscopy. Surface biopolymers were probed in solutions with added salt concentrations ranging from that of pure water to 1 M KCl. By studying the physicochemical properties of the polymers over this range of salt concentrations, we observed a transition in the steric and electrostatic properties and in the conformation of the biopolymers that were each directly related to bioadhesion. In low salt solutions, the electrophoretic mobility of the bacterium was negative, and large theoretical energy barriers to adhesion were predicted from soft-particle DLVO theory calculations. The brush layer in low salt solution was extended due to electrostatic repulsion, and therefore, steric repulsion was also high (polymers extended 440 nm from surface in pure water). The extended polymer brush layer was "soft", characterized by the slope of the compliance region of the AFM approach curves (-0.014 nN/nm). These properties resulted in low adhesion between biopolymers and the silicon nitride AFM tip. As the salt concentration increased to > or =0.01 M, a transition was observed toward a more rigid and compressed polymer brush layer, and the adhesion forces increased. In 1 M KCl, the polymer brush extended 120 nm from the surface and the rigidity of the outer cell surface was greater (slope of the compliance region = -0.114 nN/nm). A compressed and more rigid polymer layer, as well as a less negative electrophoretic mobility for the bacterium, resulted in higher adhesion forces between the biopolymers and the AFM tip. Scaling theories for polyelectrolyte brushes were also used to explain the behavior of the biopolymer brush layer as a function of salt concentration.