The effects of culture concentration and age, time, and temperature on bacterial attachment to polystyrene

Abstract

The attachment of a marine pseudomonad to polystyrene was found to be dependent upon (a) culture concentration, (b) the time allowed for attachment, (c) the growth phase of the culture, and (d) temperature. The number of attached cells increased with both culture concentration and the time allowed for attachment, until the attachment surface approached saturation. The number of cells which attached and the rate of attachment was greatest with log-phase cultures, and progressively decreased with stationary and death-phase cultures. A temperature of 3 °C ± 1 noticeably decreased the proportion of stationary phase cells which attached, compared with cells at 20 °C ± 1. These results can be described by a model based on physicochemical adsorption, which suggests that non-biological processes may play a major role in the initial events of bacterial adhesion.