Recent progress on MATH characterizing the cell surface hydrophobicity of environmental microorganisms

Abstract:

The cell surface hydrophobicity of environmental microorganism has important influence on its metabolism during cell growth process, and had wide applications in the field of environmental biotechnology. Currently, microbial adhesion to hydrocarbon (MATH) was popularly employed for characterizing the cell surface hydrophobicity. This method was widely used in environmental remediation, bioengineering, medical and food processing field owing to its advantages of simplicity, convenience and accuracy. This paper reviewed recent studies of MATH applied in sludge characteristic, degradation of refractory organics, membrane fouling and biological demulsification. The modified studies on MATH were also introduced in operating factors, counting methods and data analysis. Finally, the future research prospect in this field was also proposed.

Key words:Microbial adhesion to hydrocarbon, Hydrophobicity, Environmental microorganisms