title: Short time-scale bacterial adhesion dynamics.
abstract: In natural conditions many bacterial populations are found as surface-attached communities exhibiting features distinct from those of planktonic cells. We focus here on the question of initial adhesion, the mechanisms of which are still far from being fully understood. Recently, the frontier between microbiologists and physicists has become increasingly permeable, boosting implementation of new methodological approaches for better elucidating the intricate aspects of initial bacterial adhesion. After discussing briefly the main sources of complexity that confuse the understanding of the early steps of cell-surface attachment, we present a selection of physical methods enabling real-time measurement of early adhesion kinetics in live cells. We also discuss the limitations and pitfalls that might appear when applying such methodologies - initially designed for studying physically ideal systems - to analysis of these, more complex, living systems. We address mainly on the use of dispersed-surfaces flow cytometry (DS-FCM), quartz microbalance (QCM) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) approaches, and give a brief survey of new perspectives in optical microscopy. We conclude that the use of combined and multiparametric technical approaches will lead to significant advances in providing a comprehensive understanding of the early events in bacterial adhesion.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Physico-chimie Curie (CNRS UMR 168), Université Paris VI Institut Curie, Paris Cedex 05, France. Jing.GENG@danone.com
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.forename: Nelly
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Henry
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D009068:Movement; D058525:Quartz Crystal Microbalance Techniques; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance