Development of Targeted Delivery Techniques for Zequanox®

The effects of temperature and concentration on the viscosity, settling, and distribution of Zequanox®, a dead-cell spray-dried powder formulation of Pseudomonas fluorescens (strain CL145A) used for controlling invasive dreissenid mussels (zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, and quagga mussel, Dreissena bugensis), was investigated. Laboratory tests examined viscosity, delivery and sink rates, mixing, settling, and diffusion characteristics at varying temperatures and concentrations to determine optimal target viscosity for subsurface injection of Zequanox. Furthermore, this target viscosity was used to predict the optimal concentrations of Zequanox at three different environmental temperatures that were later injected into outdoor test enclosures. Water samples were collected at varying depths throughout each exposure period and analyzed via spectroscopy to determine Zequanox concentration and dispersion.