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Effect of Soluble and Exchangeable Aluminum on a Soil Bacillus
Author(s) -
Zwarun A. A.,
Bloomfield B. J.,
Thomas G. W.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1971.03615995003500030036x
Subject(s) - bentonite , organism , incubation , chemistry , adsorption , aluminium , suspension (topology) , environmental chemistry , nuclear chemistry , mineralogy , chemical engineering , biochemistry , biology , organic chemistry , paleontology , mathematics , homotopy , pure mathematics , engineering
The test organism, a Bacillus species isolated from soil, behaved as a typical cation exchanger having a CEC of 95 meq/100‐g organism (oven‐dry weight). Increasing acidity from pH 6.6 to 4.5 greatly reduced the number of surviving cells suspended for 3 hours in an acetate buffer. Addition of soluble aluminum up to 80 ppm produced no further detrimental effect upon the organism, even though the cell walls of the organism were saturated with aluminum. Exchangeable aluminum in the form of Al‐saturated Wyoming bentonite decreased the number of surviving cells as compared with a Ca‐ saturated Wyoming bentonite. Addition of soluble Al to the Al‐clay suspension did not result in any interaction. Upon incubation with the clay suspensions, the organism changed its gram‐staining characteristic. Clay particles in all treatments were adsorbed by the cells producing organism‐clay aggregates.