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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2002, p. 1280-1289, Vol. 68, No. 3
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.3.1280-1289.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Reversal of Flagellar Rotation Is Important in Initial Attachment of Escherichia coli to Glass in a Dynamic System with High- and Low-Ionic-Strength Buffers

Jennifer W. McClaine and Roseanne M. Ford*

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904

Received 15 August 2001/ Accepted 19 December 2001

The attachment rates of wild-type, smooth-swimming, tumbly, and paralyzed Escherichia coli to glass was measured at fluid velocities of 0.0044 and 0.044 cms-1 (corresponding to shear rates of 0.34 and 3.4 s-1, respectively), in 0.02 and 0.2 M buffer solutions. At the highest ionic strength, we did not observe a significant difference in the attachment rate of wild-type and paralyzed cells at either fluid velocity. However, when the ionic strength was reduced, paralyzed bacteria attached at rates 4 and 10 times lower than that of the wild type under fluid velocities of 0.0044 and 0.044 cms-1, respectively. This suggested that the rotation of the flagella assisted in attachment. We then compared the attachment rates of smooth-swimming (counterclockwise rotation only) and tumbly (clockwise rotation only) cells to the wild type to determine whether the direction of rotation was important to cell attachment. At 0.0044 cms-1, the smooth-swimming cells attached at rates similar to that of the wild type in both buffer solutions but significantly less at the higher fluid velocity. Tumbly cells attached at much lower rates under all conditions. Thus, the combination of clockwise and counterclockwise flagellar rotation and their coupling appeared to be important in cell attachment. We considered a number of hypotheses to interpret these observations, including a residence time analysis and a comparison of traditional Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory to soft-particle theory.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers' Way, P.O. Box 400741, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4741. Phone: (434) 924-6283. Fax: (434) 982-2658. E-mail: rmf3f{at}virginia.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2002, p. 1280-1289, Vol. 68, No. 3
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.3.1280-1289.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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