Adherence of oral mycoplasmas to glass and plastic surfaces

Abstract

Adherence to glass and plastic surface s was compared between Mycoplasma salivarium ATCC 23064 and Mycoplasma orale ATCC 15539.
A liquid medium, dispensed into glass petri dishes, was inoculated witha s train. After incubation, broth cultures were discarded. The petri dishes were washed scrupulously with a large amount of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). A growth of adherence was detected in a direct observation after being stained with Giemsa's 2% stain solution. In addition, the growth was scraped into a fresh liquid medium, which was titrated for viable organisms. As a result, the observation indicated that M. salivarium adhered to a glass surface but M. orale did not.
Furthermore, observation was made with more attention paid to quantity as follows. Highly concentrated mycoplasma cell suspensions were dispensed into plastic petri dishes. After incubation at 37°C, the cell suspensions were removed. The petri dishes were washed as mentioned above and fixed in Bouin's solution. Then, the dishes were cut into small pieces. Attachment of the cells to plastic was measured spectrophotom etrically. The experiment substantiated that M. salivarium was markedly superior to M. orale in the attachment of cells to plastic.