Effect of Titanium-Ion on the Growth of Various Bacterial Species

There are a number of studies that explain the metabolism and roles of metallic titanium and titanium-ion. One of the most intriguing results from these studies is the finding of metallic titanium having no bacteriostatic effects on oral bacterial species. In this research, the effects of titanium-ion on the growth of twenty-two bacterial species, some of which are commonly found in foods such as yoghurt, kimchi, and soy fermented products, were investigated. All but two bacteria, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa appeared to be sensitive to titanium-ion. These two species were grown on 360 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ of titanium-ions, and they were found to be resistant to the titanium-ion. Both the wild-type and plasmid-cured E. coli showed good growth in a medium with 200 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ of titanium-ions. These results suggest that titanium-resistance was independent from the effects of the plasmid in E. coli.