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On a relation between interfacial free energy-dependent and noninterfacial free energy-dependent adherence of oral streptococci to solid substrata

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Abstract

In several systems bacterial adhesion occurs despite a positive interfacial free energy of adhesion, ΔFadh; this implies that other interactions are involved. We hypothesize that the number of bacteria adhering at ΔFadh=0 represents their ability to adhere by other, i.e., non-ΔFadh-dependent interactions. Eight strains of oral streptococci were allowed to adhere to three solid substrata with different surface free energies in a flow cell system. Strain-specific linear relations were found between the numbers of bacteria adhering at saturation, nb,s, and ΔFadh. When for all strains the numbers of adhering bacteria at ΔFadh=0 were plotted versus the slopes, denoting the sensitivity to ΔFadh, a linear relationship (r=0.92) was observed. It is, therefore, concluded that one strain-specific factor influences both ΔFadh-dependent and non-ΔFadh-dependent adherence. The numerical value of this factor, together with a surface energetic analysis, predicts the number of streptococci that will adhere to a given nonbiological substratum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dental School, University of Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Ina H. Pratt-Terpstra, Anton H. Weerkamp & Henk J. Busscher

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  1. Ina H. Pratt-Terpstra
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  2. Anton H. Weerkamp
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  3. Henk J. Busscher
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Pratt-Terpstra, I.H., Weerkamp, A.H. & Busscher, H.J. On a relation between interfacial free energy-dependent and noninterfacial free energy-dependent adherence of oral streptococci to solid substrata. Current Microbiology 16, 311–313 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01568537

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01568537

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