Bacterial-bacterial cell interactions in biofilms: detection of polysaccharide intercellular adhesins by blotting and confocal microscopy

Methods Mol Biol. 2006:341:119-26. doi: 10.1385/1-59745-113-4:119.

Abstract

Adhesive interactions between bacterial cells coupled with adherence to a solid surface can lead to the formation of a biofilm. The important role of biofilm formation in the pathogenesis of certain types of infection, especially those involving indwelling medical devices, is becoming increasingly apparent. Critical to the development of a biofilm is the elaboration of exo-polysaccharide that contributes to substrate and intercellular adhesion. The synthesis and secretion of large exo-polysaccharides is a metabolically expensive process and is therefore often suppressed under conditions that favor the planktonic mode of growth. One way to identify the environmental cues that cause a given bacterial species to switch to the biofilm mode of growth is to monitor exo-polysaccharide elaboration in vitro. The exo-polysaccharide involved in biofilm formation in a number of bacterial species is a polymer of N-acetyl-glucosamine. In this chapter, we outline two methods that use wheat germ agglutinin, a lectin that binds to N-acetyl-glucosamine, to evaluate extracellular polysaccharide production by a variety of bacterial species.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adhesins, Bacterial / biosynthesis*
  • Bacteria / cytology
  • Bacteria / growth & development*
  • Bacterial Adhesion / physiology*
  • Biofilms / growth & development*
  • Blotting, Western
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / physiology*
  • Microscopy, Confocal / methods
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial / biosynthesis*

Substances

  • Adhesins, Bacterial
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial
  • polysaccharide intercellular adhesin