Skip to main content
PMC home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1987 Aug;53(8):1893–1897. doi: 10.1128/aem.53.8.1893-1897.1987

The role of bacterial cell wall hydrophobicity in adhesion.

M C van Loosdrecht 1, J Lyklema 1, W Norde 1, G Schraa 1, A J Zehnder 1
PMCID: PMC204020  PMID: 2444158

Abstract

In this study, the adhesion of bacteria differing in surface hydrophobicity was investigated. Cell wall hydrophobicity was measured as the contact angle of water on a bacterial layer collected on a microfilter. The contact angles ranged from 15 to 70 degrees. This method was compared with procedures based upon adhesion to hexadecane and with the partition of cells in a polyethylene glycol-dextran two-phase system. The results obtained with these three methods agreed reasonably well. The adhesion of 16 bacterial strains was measured on sulfated polystyrene as the solid phase. These experiments showed that hydrophobic cells adhered to a greater extent than hydrophilic cells. The extent of adhesion correlated well with the measured contact angles (linear regression coefficient, 0.8).

Full text

PDF
1893

Images in this article

1896Image
on p.1896

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Absolom D. R., Lamberti F. V., Policova Z., Zingg W., van Oss C. J., Neumann A. W. Surface thermodynamics of bacterial adhesion. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1983 Jul;46(1):90–97. doi: 10.1128/aem.46.1.90-97.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Busscher H. J., Weerkamp A. H., van der Mei H. C., van Pelt A. W., de Jong H. P., Arends J. Measurement of the surface free energy of bacterial cell surfaces and its relevance for adhesion. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1984 Nov;48(5):980–983. doi: 10.1128/aem.48.5.980-983.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Fletcher M., Loeb G. I. Influence of substratum characteristics on the attachment of a marine pseudomonad to solid surfaces. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1979 Jan;37(1):67–72. doi: 10.1128/aem.37.1.67-72.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gerson D. F. Cell surface energy, contact angles and phase partition. I. Lymphocytic cell lines in biphasic aqueous mixtures. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1980 Nov 4;602(2):269–280. doi: 10.1016/0005-2736(80)90310-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Stotzky G., Rem L. T. Influence of clay minerals on microorganisms. I. Montmorillonite and kaolinite on bacteria. Can J Microbiol. 1966 Jun;12(3):547–563. doi: 10.1139/m66-078. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Zehnder A. J., Huser B. A., Brock T. D., Wuhrmann K. Characterization of an acetate-decarboxylating, non-hydrogen-oxidizing methane bacterium. Arch Microbiol. 1980 Jan;124(1):1–11. doi: 10.1007/BF00407022. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Zobell C. E. The Effect of Solid Surfaces upon Bacterial Activity. J Bacteriol. 1943 Jul;46(1):39–56. doi: 10.1128/jb.46.1.39-56.1943. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. van Oss C. J. Phagocytosis as a surface phenomenon. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1978;32:19–39. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.32.100178.000315. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. van Pelt A. W., Weerkamp A. H., Uyen M. H., Busscher H. J., de Jong H. P., Arends J. Adhesion of Streptococcus sanguis CH3 to polymers with different surface free energies. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 May;49(5):1270–1275. doi: 10.1128/aem.49.5.1270-1275.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES