High-Throughput Quantitative Measurement of Bacterial Attachment Kinetics on Seconds Time Scale

N. Shteindel, D. Yankelev, Y. Gerchman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Surface attachment is an important factor in the life of many microbial species. Late stages of attachment (i.e., mature biofilms) are rigorously studied, but data on the very early stages is scarce. The lack of robust research methods may go a long way in explaining this situation. We have developed a method that allows the rapid kinetic measurement of bacterial attachment, with seconds to minute’s temporal resolution, in a high-throughput setting. The method requires the use of a commercially available microtiter plate reader capable of fluorescence measurement from the bottom, standard microtiter plates, fluorescently tagged bacteria, and a common dye. The high temporal resolution reveals nuanced, fast, and dynamic behaviors in the very early phases of attachment. To demonstrate potential applications, we tested the effect of various conditions on attachment kinetics—specie, substratum, salt concentration, and culture density. Results are in good agreement with crystal violet staining (correlation R 2 > 0.95 in all cases) and reproducing published data but show much greater detail and fidelity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)726-735
Number of pages10
JournalMicrobial Ecology
Volume77
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Apr 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

  • Bacterial attachment
  • High throughput
  • Kinetic measurement
  • Method

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Ecology
  • Soil Science

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