反渗透（RO）膜的细菌污染有助于降低反渗透过程的能源效率。本文描述了在水厂21进行的一项调查，以阐明分枝杆菌粘附过程的基本机制，并进一步了解细菌细胞表面和反渗透膜之间存在的吸引力。以前从反渗透膜生物污染的早期阶段分离的分枝杆菌的粘附相对不受缓冲系统离子强度或pH值的较大变化的影响。然而，微量的聚氧乙烯醚非离子洗涤剂几乎完全抑制附着。发现分枝杆菌粘附在醋酸纤维素（CA）膜表面（或CA亲和柱）的效率约为野生型大肠杆菌的25倍。 分枝杆菌和大肠杆菌粘附膜的能力与它们的相对表面疏水性相关，这是由它们对正十六烷的亲和力决定的。在含有一个17.8兆道尔顿质粒（PYG1）的亲水性野生型磷酸不动杆菌菌株和缺乏PYG1质粒的更疏水的等基因衍生菌株（P7P-）之间建立了类似的相关性。与P7WT亲本菌株不同，P7P衍生物产生了更多类似菌毛的附属物，这可能是其疏水性和粘附性增强的原因。结果表明，细菌细胞表面组分与CA膜表面之间的疏水相互作用在细菌粘附和RO膜生物膜形成的初始阶段起着重要作用。包括36个参考文献、表格、图表。

Bacterial fouling of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes contributes to reduction of energy efficiency of the reverse osmosis process. This article describes an investigation conducted at Water Factory 21 to clarify the fundamental mechanism of the mycobacterial adhesion process and to learn more about the attractive forces that exist between the bacterial cell surface and the reverse osmosis membrane. Adhesion of a Mycobacterium sp. previously isolated from an early stage of RO membrane biofouling was relatively unaffected by large variations in the ionic strength or pH of the buffer system. However, trace quantities of a polyoxyethylene ether nonionic detergent almost completely inhibited attachment. The mycobacteria were found to adhere to the cellulose acetate (CA) membrane surface (or to a CA-affinity column) approximately 25-fold more effectively than a wild-type strain of Escherichia coli. The ability of Mycobacterium and E. coli to adhere to the membrane was correlated with their relative surface hydrophobicities as determined by their affinities for n-hexadecane. A similar correlation was established between a hydrophilic wild-type strain of Acinetobacter phosphadevorus containing a single 17.8 megaDalton plasmid (PYG1) and a more hydrophobic isogenic derivative strain (P7P-) lacking the PYG1 plasmid. Unlike the P7WT parent strain, the P7Pderivative produced more fimbrialike appendages, which may account for its enhanced hydrophobic and adhesive properties. The results suggest that hydrophobic interactions between bacterial cell surface components and the CA membrane surface play an important role in the initial stages of bacterial adhesion and RO membrane biofilm formation. Includes 36 references, table, figures.