The aim of the project was to develop a method to investigate differences in adhesion of microorganisms to materials that contains lignocellulose. The method was tested on a gram-positive (Micrococcus lutea) and one gram-negative (E-coliJM109) bacteria.
The study was begun by cultivation of the two microorganisms. The cultivation was done to calculate the generation times of the bacteria and to obtain growth curves. Cells from these cultivations were also frozen (-70ºC) and later used for inoculation.
At STFI-Packforsk AB the total charge on the mass was measured and later a conductivity titration on the mass was executed as well, all to find out more about the different properties of the mass. Properties that in a later part of this study could possibly be linked to the adhesion of cells to the pulp. The adhesion experiments that were executed gave poor results. The adhesion experiment with M. lutea was the only experiment that gave a reproducible result. In this experiment M. lutea was contacted with bleached leaf. A reduction of cells was observed in all of the dilutions where M. lutea had been in contact with the mass. The number of colony forming units of the culture was 1,2×107 before the adhesion and 2×106 subsequently.