The Change of Major Cellular Fatty Acids Composition and Morphology of Escherichia coli Affected by Toxic Substances

This study was performed to compare the growth rates, cellular fatty acid compositions and morphology by using electron microscope of Escherichia coli (E. coli) grown in various conditions including different concentrations of phenol, CdCl₂ and HgCl₂. Ninety eight E. coli strains were isolated from Naktong river and human feces. The content of unsaturated fatty acids, especially 16:1ω7c and 18:1ωc increased as the concentration of phenol and CdCl₂ increased. The content of unsaturated fatty acid increased up to 50 ppb of HgCl₂, but decreased at 75 ppb of HgCl₂. There were more unsaturated fatty acids than saturated fatty acid in the presence of toxic substances. However, the ration was reversed when the affected E. coli was transferred to toxic substance free fresh trypticase soy broth medium. Also, by using transmission electron microscope these cells were observed to various morphological deformation by heavy metals and their deposition on the surface. From these results, we suggested that the changes of major fatty acids composition and morphology of E. coli may be considered to indicate contaminated levels of heavy metals or organic solvents. The information presented here may be useful in predicting effects of heavy-metal and organic solvent contamination in streams and provides a basis for further studies of metal or organic solvent effects on microbial communities.