Significant alterations in anisotropic ice growth rate induced by the ice nucleation-active bacteria Xanthomonas campestris

In the present study, we found that the ice nucleation-active bacteria Xanthomonas campestris significantly altered anisotropic ice growth rate. Results of ice growth experiments in the presence of X. campestris showed that this bacterium decreased the ice crystal growth rate in the c-axis, whereas it increased growth rates in directions normal to the c-axis. These results indicate that these alterations in anisotropic growth rate are the result of selective binding of bacterial ice-nucleating proteins along the {0 0 0 1} basal plane. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.