Research article

Cell adhesion of Shewanella oneidensis to iron oxide minerals: Effect of different single crystal faces

Andrew L Neal¹ , Tracy L Bank^2,4, Michael F Hochella Jr² and Kevin M Rosso³

¹Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina 29808

²Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060

³The W.R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352

⁴Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831

author email corresponding author email

Geochemical Transactions 2005, 6:77doi:10.1186/1467-4866-6-77

Published:	30 December 2005

Abstract

The results of experiments designed to test the hypothesis that near-surface molecular structure of iron oxide minerals influences adhesion of dissimilatory iron reducing bacteria are presented. These experiments involved the measurement, using atomic force microscopy, of interaction forces generated between Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 cells and single crystal growth faces of iron oxide minerals. Significantly different adhesive force was measured between cells and the (001) face of hematite, and the (100) and (111) faces of magnetite. A role for electrostatic interactions is apparent. The trend in relative forces of adhesion generated at the mineral surfaces is in agreement with predicted ferric site densities published previously. These results suggest that near-surface structure does indeed influence initial cell attachment to iron oxide surfaces; whether this is mediated via specific cell surface-mineral surface interactions or by more general interfacial phenomena remains untested.