Enthalpies of proton adsorption onto Bacillus licheniformis at 25, 37, 50, and 75 °C

Understanding bacterial surface reactivity requires many different lines of investigation. Toward this end, we used isothermal titration calorimetry to measure heats of proton adsorption onto a Gram positive thermophile Bacillus licheniformis at 25, 37, 50, and 75 °C. Proton adsorption under all conditions exhibited exothermic heat production. Below pH 4.5, exothermic heats decreased as temperature increased above 37 °C; above pH 4.5, there was no significant difference in heats evolved at the temperatures investigated. Total proton uptake did not vary significantly with temperature. Site-specific enthalpies and entropies were calculated by applying a 4-site, non-electrostatic surface complexation model to the calorimetric data. Interpretation of site-specific enthalpies and entropies of proton adsorption for site L1, L2, and L4 are consistent with previous interpretations of phosphoryl, carboxyl, and hydroxyl/amine site-identities, respectively, and with previous calorimetric measurements of proton adsorption onto mesophilic species. Enthalpies and entropies for surface site L3 are not consistent with the commonly inferred phosphoryl site-identity and are more consistent with sulfhydryl functional groups. These results reveal intricacies of surface reactivity that are not detectable by other methods.