Effect of substrate and cell surface hydrophobicity on phosphate utilization in bacteria

We measured the rates of utilization of hydrophobic and hydrophilic phosphate compounds in gram-negative bacteria with different surface hydrophobicities, isolated from wetland habitats. Three hydrophobic and two hydrophilic bacterial species were selected for study by measuring cell adherence to hydrocarbons. The bacteria were grown under phosphorus-limited conditions with P(infi), hydrophilic (beta)-glycerophosphate, or hydrophobic phosphatidic acid as the phosphate source. Hydrophilic bacteria grew most rapidly on P(infi), followed by (beta)-glycerophosphate. Phosphatidic acid did not support growth or did so at a much later time (40 h) than did the other phosphate treatments. Although all hydrophobic species grew well on these substrates, the rate of growth of two Acinetobacter baumannii isolates on phosphatidic acid exceeded the rate of growth on phosphate or (beta)-glycerophosphate. A membrane phospholipid and lipopolysaccharide were used as a source of phosphorus by hydrophobic species, whereas hydrophilic species could not use the membrane phospholipids and used lipopolysaccharide to a lesser extent. Besides hydrophobic interaction between cells and substrate, phosphatase activity, which was cell bound in hydrophilic species but 30 to 50% unbound in hydrophobic species, affected cell growth. Dialyzed culture supernatant containing phosphatase from hydrophobic species increased the phosphate availability to hydrophilic species. Additionally, cellular extracts from a hydrophilic species, when added to hydrophilic cells, permitted growth on hydrophobic phosphate sources. Naturally occurring amphiphilic humic acids affected the utilization of P(infi) and (beta)-glycerophosphate in bacteria with hydrophilic surfaces but did not affect hydrophobic bacteria. Our results indicate that hydrophobic phosphate sources can be used by bacteria isolated from aquatic environments as the sole phosphorus source for growth. This utilization, in part, appears to be related to cell surface hydrophobicity and extracellular enzyme production.