Adhesion ofStaphylococcus epidermidis and transposon mutant strains to hydrophobic polyethylene

✍ Scribed by Higashi, Julie M. ;Wang, I-wen ;Shlaes, David M. ;Anderson, James M. ;Marchant, Roger E.

• Book ID: 101256984
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 404 KB
• Volume: 39
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9304
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4636(19980305)39:3<341::aid-jbm1>3.0.co;2-j

✦ Synopsis

Staphylococcus epidermidis capsular polysaccharide adhesin (PS/A) and slime were studied as possible mediators of bacterial adhesion to NHLBI polyethylene (PE) under dynamic flow. This putative interaction was examined by quantifying the adhesion of M187 (PS/A+, slime+) parent strain and isogenic transposon mutant strain sn3 (PS/A-, slime-) to polyethylene (PE) under a range of physiologic shear stress conditions in both phosphatebuffered saline (PBS) and 1% platelet poor plasma (PPP). No significant differences in adhesion were noted between the M187 and sn3 strains in either test medium. However, adhesion of both strains in 1% PPP was decreased 75-95% compared to adhesion in PBS. In PBS, adhesion was shear stress dependent from 0-15 dyne/cm 2 , after which adhesion was comparatively shear stress independent. Adhesion in 1% PPP was independent of shear stress. Epifluorescent imaging of both strains labeled for slime confirmed the presence of slime on the surface of M187 and suggested that PS/A and slime promote the formation of large aggregates, as aggregates were totally absent in the images of the sn3 strain. The results suggest that PS/A and slime do not mediate S. epidermidis adhesion to bare PE or PE with adsorbed plasma proteins, but may be necessary for intercellular adhesion, which is important for biofilm formation.