This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Olofsson, A.-C.
Right arrow Articles by Elwing, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Olofsson, A.-C.
Right arrow Articles by Elwing, H.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Olofsson, A.-C.
Right arrow Articles by Elwing, H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2005, p. 2705-2712, Vol. 71, No. 5
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.5.2705-2712.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Use of a Quartz Crystal Microbalance To Investigate the Antiadhesive Potential of N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine

Ann-Cathrin Olofsson,1* Malte Hermansson,2 and Hans Elwing1

Department of Cell and Molecular Biology-Interface Biophysics, Göteborg University, Box 462, 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden,1 Department of Cell and Molecular Biology-Microbiology, Göteborg University, Box 462, 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden2

Received 20 August 2004/ Accepted 2 December 2004

The reduction of bacterial biofilm formation on stainless steel surfaces by N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) is attributed to effects on bacterial growth and polysaccharide production, as well as an increase in the wettability of steel surfaces. In this report, we show that NAC-coated stainless steel and polystyrene surfaces affect both the initial adhesion of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis and the viscoelastic properties of the interaction between the adhered bacteria and the surface. A quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation was shown to be a powerful and sensitive technique for investigating changes in the applied NAC coating for initial cell surface interactions of bacteria. The kinetics of frequency and dissipation shifts were dependent on the bacteria, the life cycle stage of the bacteria, and the surface. We found that exponentially grown cells gave rise to a positive frequency shift as long as their cell surface hydrophobicity was zero. Furthermore, when the characteristics of binding between the cell and the surface for different growth phases were compared, the rigidity increased from exponentially grown cells to starved cells. There was a trend in which an increase in the viscoelastic properties of the interaction, caused by the NAC coating on stainless steel, resulted in a reduction in irreversibly adhered cells. Interestingly, for B. cereus that adhered to polystyrene, the viscoelastic properties decreased, while there was a reduction in adhered cells, regardless of the life cycle stage. Altogether, NAC coating on surfaces was often effective and could both decrease the initial adhesion and increase the detachment of adhered cells and spores. The most effective reduction was found for B. cereus spores, for which the decrease was caused by a combination of these two parameters.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology-Interface Biophysics, Göteborg University, Box 462, 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden. Phone: 46 31 7732593. Fax: 46 31 7732599. E-mail: anki.olofsson{at}gmm.gu.se.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2005, p. 2705-2712, Vol. 71, No. 5
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.5.2705-2712.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»