New insights into transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) formation from precursor materials at various Na+/Ca2+ ratios

Scientific Reports
Shujuan Meng, Yu Liu

Abstract

Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) are planktonic, organic microgels which play significant roles in cycling of carbon and trace elements, aggregation of particles, feeding and accommodating microbes as well as development of biofilms. However, few studies are available on the mechanism of TEP formation in various water environments. Here we investigate the formation of TEP with alginate blocks as precursors at various Na(+)/Ca(2+) ratios to simulate the situations in different aquatic environments (e.g. freshwater and seawater). We found that the formation of TEP from precursor materials studied was essentially determined by the Ca(2+) concentration at a fixed sodium concentration, while Na(+) at high Na(+)/Ca(2+) ratio out-competed Ca(2+) for the binding sites on the precursor molecules, leading to a significantly decreased trend of TEP formation. Our results indicate that a more abundant TEP could be expected in freshwater than in seawater, and we also discuss the engineering implications of the findings.

References

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Sep 15, 2007·Nature Reviews. Microbiology·Farooq Azam, Francesca Malfatti
Dec 1, 2007·Carbohydrate Research·David LealFrancesco Caruso
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May 23, 2012·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Edo Bar-ZeevTom Berman
May 25, 2013·Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology·Shujuan MengYu Liu
Sep 28, 2013·Water Research·Shujuan Meng, Yu Liu
Dec 17, 2014·Environmental Science & Technology·Edo Bar-ZeevMenachem Elimelech

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Citations

Jan 28, 2017·Scientific Reports·Babak Vajdi Hokmabad, Sina Ghaemi
Aug 31, 2020·Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences·Anabel von JackowskiAnja Engel
Nov 28, 2020·The Science of the Total Environment·Chi-Shuo ChenWei-Chun Chin

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
scanning electron microscopy
force measurements
AFM
membrane filtration

Software Mentioned

Build32
XEI

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