Effect of cultivation and experimental conditions on the surface reactivity of the metal-resistant bacteria Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 to protons, cadmium and zinc

The surface chemistry of the cell wall of the metal resistant bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 was investigated through proton exchange and zinc and cadmium sorption experiments. The effect of organic and mineral nutrients availability, culture age and viability on cell wall reactivity to H+, Zn or Cd was specifically addressed. Parameter sensitivity studies allowed constraining the pH-validity domain of the titration experiments and defining experimental conditions that permit reproducible experiments with this bacterium. The results were satisfactorily fitted with a non-electrostatic model that allowed the determination of the stability constants of three discrete acid–base functional groups differing in acidity at bacterial cell surfaces. These results revealed that C. metallidurans CH34 did not particularly stand out in terms of its surface reactivity as compared to metal-sensitive bacteria. This may confirm a generic global reactivity of all bacteria towards non-redox sensitive metals. The same reactivity to zinc was observed for C. metallidurans CH34 cells grown in LB-rich or TSM-mineral media. Cell surface reactivity was found to be independent of organic substrates availability but strongly dependent on cell growth stage and cell viability. Zinc sorption by C. metallidurans CH34 was only slightly (15% decrease) affected by phosphate availability. This suggests the involvement of phosphorus sites in metal binding. Zn and Cd stability constants compared to those of strong chelating ligands but were higher than those of weak ligands, such as acetic acid or phosphoric acid. This indicates that bacterial cells strongly compete with small dissolved organic components that are potentially less reactive to metals than bacteria. This competition potentially affects metal mobility in soils.