The effects of starvation on the transport of Escherichia coli in saturated porous media are dependent on pH and ionic strength

In this research, we investigate the effects of starvation on the transport of Escherichia coli K12 in saturated porous media. Particularly, we examine the relationship between the starvation effects and the pH and ionic strength of the electrolyte solutions used for cell starvation. E. coli K12 was cultured using either Luria-Bertani Miller (LB-Miller) broth, which contained 10 g/L of NaCl, or LB-Luria broth, which contained 0.5 g/L of NaCl. As both types of broths had similar pH (∼7.2) they differed in ionic strengths. The bacterial cells were harvested at late-exponential phase and resuspended in buffered (pH = 7.2) and non-buffered (pH = 5.7) electrolyte solutions that had ionic strengths of 8.4 mM or 168 mM, respectively. Column transport experiments were performed following 4, 25 and 52 h of cell starvation to evaluate the temporal changes in cell mobility. Our results showed that starvation led to a significant increase in the mobility of E. coli K12, particularly between 4 and 25 h, when both pH and ionic strength of the electrolyte solution were different from those of the growth media. The size, viability and surface properties (e.g., zeta potential, hydrophobicity, LPS sugar content, outer membrane protein profiles) of the bacterial cells were determined and related to the observed temporal variation patterns of cell mobility. We found that starvation in electrolyte solutions that had different pH and ionic strength from the growth media significantly lowered cell viability, which may be related to the temporal change in cell mobility under these specific conditions.

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► Starvation increased the mobility of E. coli when the pH and ionic strength were different.
► The increase in E. coli mobility due to starvation was likely related to cell viability.
► Concentration of NaCl in the growth media had little effects on E. coli mobility.