2017 Volume 54 Issue 3 Pages 167-171
The effect of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) of Escherichia coli was investigated through the bacterial adhesive behavior onto the glass surface. The adhesive forces were estimated using the parallel plate flow chamber (PPFC) and the atomic force microscope (AFM). In the case of adhered cells attached for 3 h on a glass substratum, PPFC measurements revealed that the adhesive force for a washed cell (without EPS) was about three times larger than that for an intact cell even though the EPS increases the bacterial adhesive force basically. Interestingly, AFM force measurements also revealed that the EPS reduced the bacterial adhesive force between a cell and a glass bead. These results indicates that the existence of EPS on the bacterial cells increases the separation distance between a cell and a solid surface, leading to the inhibition of the initial bacterial adhesion.
