title: Investigating the surface properties of Escherichia coli under glucose controlled conditions and its effect on aggregation.
abstract: Bacteria exist as aggregates or in biofilms to help with adaptation and protection from environmental stresses. The hypothesis that is tested in this paper is that the relative presence of glucose in the media, at the beginning of the growth phase, influences the surface chemistry of the cell, which as a consequence reduces the tendency for the cells to interact and form aggregates. In this study, we used Escherichia coli (E. coli) MG1655 as a model organism and measured the change in the surface chemistry of cells harvested at different growth phases, which had been cultured in Luria-Bertani media with and without the addition of glucose, using potentiometric titration and infrared spectroscopy. Cells, cultivated with the additional supplement of glucose at the beginning of the growth phase, displayed a higher concentration of bacterial surface functional groups and a variation in outer membrane proteins. As a consequence, the tendency for cell-to-cell attachment was significantly reduced. Our findings therefore revealed that glucose limits aggregation in E. coli MG1655 by altering the concentration of functional groups from macromolecules present on the bacterial surface.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Process Engineering and Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, U.K.
authors.forename: Kevin E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Eboigbodin
authors.forename: Jesus J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ojeda
authors.forename: Catherine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Biggs
mesh_terms: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000254:growth & development*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005947:Glucose / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D013549:Sweetening Agents; D005947:Glucose