Floating and Tether-Coupled Adhesion of Bacteria to Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Surfaces.

ABSTRACT: Models for bacterial adhesion to substratum surfaces all include uncertainty with respect to the (ir)reversibility of adhesion. In a model, based on vibrations exhibited by adhering bacteria parallel to a surface, adhesion was described as a result of reversible binding of multiple bacterial tethers that detach from and successively reattach to a surface, eventually making bacterial adhesion irreversible. Here, we use total internal reflection microscopy to determine whether adhering bacteria also exhibit variations over time in their perpendicular distance above surfaces. Streptococci with fibrillar surface tethers showed perpendicular vibrations with amplitudes of around 5 nm, regardless of surface hydrophobicity. Adhering, nonfibrillated streptococci vibrated with amplitudes around 20 n

SUBMITTER: van der Westen R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5942874 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature