Abstract
The basis of all motion in biology is diffusion. The movement may be as simple as the diffusion of a precursor from the point of formation to an enzyme that processes it; it may be as complex as the mechanism of Chemotaxis or muscle contraction. The movements of nutrients up to a cell or a collection of cells is probably the first thing that comes to mind when one considers bacterial ecosystems. Diffusion is also relevant to the movement of microorganisms and nutrients through slimes and gels in natural ecosystems. Of course, in microbiology there are practical applications of diffusion, such as the assay of antibiotic concentrations, in which diffusion, among other factors, controls the size of the zone of inhibition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Acker, G. K., 1964, Molecular exclusion and restricted diffusion process in molecular-sieve chromatography, Biochemistry 3; 723–730.
Adams, G., and Delbruck, M., 1968, Reduction of dimensionality in biological diffusion processes, in: Structural Chemistry and Molecular Biology (A. Rich and N. Davidson, eds.), pp. 198–215, W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco.
Berg, H. C., 1983, Random Walks in Biology, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Berg, H. C., and Purcell, E. M., 1977, Physics of chemoreception, Biophys. J. 20: 193–219.
Best, J., 1955, The inference on intracellular enzymatic properties for kinetics data obtained from living cells, J. Cell Comp. Physiol. 46: 1–27.
Caldwell, D. E., and Lawrence, J. R., 1986, Growth kinetics of Pseudomonas fluorescens microcolonies within the hydrodynamic boundary layers of a surface microenvironment, Microbial Ecol. 12: 299–312.
Carslaw, H. S., and Jaeger, J. C., 1959, Conduction of Heat in Solids, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Characklis, W. G., 1984, Biofilm development: A process analysis, in: Microbial Adhesion and Aggregation (K. C. Marshall, ed.), pp. 137–157, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Characklis, W. G., and Cooksey, K. E., 1983, Biofilms and microbial fouling, Adv. Appl. Microbiol. 29: 93–138.
Crank, J., 1975, The Mathematics of Diffusion, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Kelly, F. X., Dapsis, K. J., and Lauffenburger, D. A., 1988, Effect of bacterial Chemotaxis on dynamics of microbial competition, Microb. Ecol. 14: 115–131.
Koch, A. L., 1959, The dynamics of coliphage plaque formation. I. Macroplaque experiments, Virology 8: 273–292.
Koch, A. L., 1960, Encounter efficiency of coliphage-bacterium interaction, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 39: 311–318.
Koch, A. L., 1966, The logarithm in biology. I. Mechanisms generating the log-normal distribution exactly, J. Theor. Biol. 12: 276–290.
Koch, A. L., 1967, Kinetics of permease catalyzed transport, J. Theor. Biol. 14: 103–130.
Koch, A. L., 1969, The logarithm in biology. II. Distributions simulating the log-normal, J. Theor. Biol. 23: 251–268.
Koch, A. L., 1971, The adaptive responses of Escherichia coli to a feast and famine existence, Adv. Microb. Physiol. 6: 147–217.
Koch, A. L., 1979, Microbial growth in low concentrations of nutrients, in: Strategies of Microbial Life in Extreme Environments (M. Shilo, ed.), pp. 261–279, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Koch, A. L., 1982a, Diffusion limit and bacterial growth, in: Overproduction of Microbial Products (V. Krumphanzl, B. Sikyta, and Z. Vanek, eds.), pp. 571–580, Academic Press, London.
Koch, A. L., 1982b, Multistep kinetics: Choice of models for the growth of bacteria, J. Theor. Biol. 98: 401–417.
Koch, A. L., 1983, The surface stress theory of microbial morphogenesis, Adv. Microbiol. Physiol. 24: 301–366.
Koch, A. L., 1985, The macroeconomics of bacterial growth, in: Bacteria in Their Natural Environments (M. M. Fletcher and G. D. Floodgate, eds.), pp. 1–42, Academic Press, London.
Koch, A. L., and Coffman, R., 1970, Diffusion permeations or enzyme limitation: A probe for the kinetics of enzyme induction. Biotech. Bioeng. XII: 651–677.
Koch, A. L., and Wang, C. H., 1982, How close to the theoretical diffusion limit do bacterial uptake systems function? Arch. Microbiol. 131: 36–42.
Marshall, K. C., 1976, Interfaces in Microbial Ecology, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Matin, A., and Veldkamp, H., 1978, Physiological basis of the selective advantage of a Spirillum sp. in a carbon-limited environment, J. Gen. Microbiol. 105: 187–197.
Morita, R. Y., 1982, Starvation-survival of heterotrophs in the marine environment, in: Advances in Microbial Ecology, Vol. 6 (K. C. Marshall, ed.), pp. 171–198, Plenum Press, New York.
Morita, R. Y., 1985, Starvation and miniaturisation of heterotrophs, with special emphasis on maintenance of the starved viable state, in: Bacteria in Their Natural Environments (M. M. Fletcher and G. D. Floodgate, eds.), pp. 111–130, Academic Press, London.
Nikaido, H., 1979, Nonspecific transport through the outer membrane, in: Bacterial Outer Membrane (M. Inouye, ed.), pp. 361–407, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Nikaido, H., and Rosenberg, E. Y., 1981, Effect of solute size on the diffusion rates through the transmembrane pores of the outer membrane of Escherichia coli, J. Gen. Physiol. 11: 121–135.
Ogsten, A. G., 1958, The spaces in a uniform random suspension of fibres, Trans. Faraday Soc. 54: 1754–1757.
Ou, L.-T., and Marquis, R. E., 1970, Electromechanical interaction on cell walls of gram-positive cocci, J. Bacteriol. 101: 92–101.
Poindexter, J., 1981, Oligotrophy: Fast and famine existence, in: Advances in Microbial Ecology, Vol. 5 (M. Alexander, ed.), pp. 63–89, Plenum Press, New York.
Powell, E. O., 1967, The growth rate of microorganisms as a function of substrate concentration, in: Microbial Physiology and Continuous Culture (E. O. Powell, C. Evans, R. E. Strange, and D. W. Tempest, eds.), pp. 34–55, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London.
Preiss, J. W., and E. Pollard, 1960–61, Localization of β-galactosidase in cells of Escherichia coli by low voltage electron bombardment. Biophys. J. 1: 429–435.
Purcell, E. M., 1977, Life at low Reynolds number, Am. J. Phys. 45: 3–12.
Rashevsky, N., 1960, Mathematical biophysics, Vol. 1, 3rd rev. ed., pp. 1–148, Dover, New York.
Renkin, E. M., 1954, Filtration, diffusion, and molecular sieving through porous cellulose membranes, J. Gen. Physiol. 38: 225–243.
Revsbech, N. P., and Jorgensen, B. B., 1986, Microelectrodes: Their use in microbial ecology, in: Advances in Microbial Ecology, Vol. 9 (K. C. Marshall, ed.), pp. 293–252, Plenum Press, New York.
Rodbard, D., 1974, Estimation of molecular weight by gel filtration and gel electrophoresis, in: Methods of Protein Separation, Vol. 2 (N. Catsimpoolas, ed.), pp. 145–180, Plenum Press, New York.
Valentine, R. C., and Allison, A. C., 1959, Virus particle adsorption. I. theory of absorption and experiments on the attachment of particles to nonbiological surfaces, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 34: 10–23.
von Smoluchowski, M., 1918, Versuch einer mathematischen Theorie der Koagulationskinetik kolloider Losungen, Zeitschr. Phys. Chem. 92: 129–168.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Koch, A.L. (1990). Diffusion The Crucial Process in Many Aspects of the Biology of Bacteria. In: Marshall, K.C. (eds) Advances in Microbial Ecology. Advances in Microbial Ecology, vol 11. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7612-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7612-5_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-7614-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-7612-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive