2008
Eighth Annual Beckman Scholars Symposium
Friday Concurrent Session Speaker
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Jeanne
E. Pemberton, Ph.D. Interfacial Properties of Microbially-Produced Rhamnolipid Biosurfactants Relevant for Their Use in Bioremediation |
| Rhamnolipids
are glycolipids produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa that posses surfactant
properties of potential interest for environmental bioremediation.
Biosurfactants that enhance the mobility and/or bioavailability of
organic and inorganic pollutants in soil systems have been proposed
as alternate technologies to conventional synthetic surfactants, with
their biocompatibility a mojor attribute. Currently, little is known
about the fundatmental mechanisms of action of these biosurfactants
in remediation applications. Enhanced mobility or bioavailability
of contaminants in the presence of rhamnolipid could occur either
by alteration of soil mineral surfaces through ractive sorption processes
of rhamnolipids or by preventionof direct contaminant interaction
with mineral surfaces through formation of blocking rhamnilipid assemblies.
Rhamnolipid biosurfactants produced by P.aeruginosa are known to adsorb
to soil mineral surfaces, but the complxity of the surfactant system
creates a major barrier to understanding the exact mechanism and conditions
under which adsorption occurs. A dearth of fundamental information
exists about the interfacial properties of rhamnolipids such as sorption
and aggregation at liquid-air and solid-liquid interfaces due, in
part, t the challenges of investigating such inherently complex materials.
Work in this laboratory involves a variety of surfac and interfacial
measurements on these fascinating molecules to develop an understanding
of the interfacial properties of the rhamnolipids under conditions
relevant in the environment. An overview of the physicochemical, spectroscopic,
and scanning probe microscopic methods being employed in this laboratory
to study the interfacial properties of these systems will be presented
and recent results and their implications for bioremediation using
rhamnolipids will be discussed.
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Dr. Jeanne E. Pemberton is a Regents' Professor and the John and Helen Schaefer Professor of Chemistry at the University of Arizona. She received her undergraduate education at the Unviersity of Delaware where she received a B.S. degree in Chemistry with Distinction and a B.A. degree in Biology in 1977. She completed her Ph.D. at the Universit of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981 and started as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Arizona later that year, rising through the ranks to the level of Professor. She was appointed as the John and Helen Schaefer Professor of Chemistry in 2001 and as a Regents' Professor in 2005. Her research interests lie in the area broadly defined as interfacial chemistry where she works on the development and use of a variety of molecular spectroscopic probes for interfaces important in electrochemical, speparations, self-assembling and environmental systems. She received two Awards for Special Creativity from the National Science Foundation for her work. Over 50 postdoctoral, doctoral and master's students have worked on research under her direction at the University of Arizona. In addition to her scientific interests, Dr. Pemberton has been involved at the national level in a variety of professional activities related to chemical and science education and women in chemistry. She has served on the National Research Council Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology and on the NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee, which she chaired in 2004. She has been a member of teh American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training since 1994, serving as its Chair from 2000-2003 and currently serves on the National Steering Committee for Project Kaleidoscope. In addition, she is a founding member of teh Committee for the Advancement of Women Chemists (COACh). |