Microbial Attachment to Particles in Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems

Scanning electron microscopy observations of in situ suspended marine and freshwater particles show diverse but similar modes of bacterial and fungal attachment. A survey of Sierra Nevada mountain lakes and pelagic and near-shore waters in the Pacific Ocean indicates that attachment is most noticeable in the near-surface waters where fresh dissolved and particulate input of carbon from phytoplankton and elevated temperatures favor microbial growth. The most common modes of attachment are: adhesive stalk formation, growth on adhesive webs, attachment by the use of pill-like appendages and slimy capsular secretions, and molecular or chemical sorption without the use of visualized structural appendages. Attached microbial growth is accelerated when particulate substrates are supplied, even when they are not rich in organic nutrients. This is the case in the Lake Tahoe basin, where microflora attached to eroded silts can significantly modify the organic carbon and nutrient content of such minerogenous particles.