title: Influence of Fimbriae on Bacterial Adhesion and Viscoelasticity and Correlations of the Two Properties with Biofilm Formation.
abstract: The surface polymers of bacteria determine the ability of bacteria to adhere to a substrate for colonization, which is an essential step for a variety of microbial processes, such as biofilm formation and biofouling. Capsular polysaccharides and fimbriae are two major components on a bacterial surface, which are critical for mediating cell-surface interactions. Adhesion and viscoelasticity of bacteria are two major physical properties related to bacteria-surface interactions. In this study, we employed atomic force microscopy (AFM) to interrogate how the adhesion work and the viscoelasticity of a bacterial pathogen, Klebsiella pneumoniae, influence biofilm formation. To do this, the wild-type, type 3 fimbriae-deficient, and type 3 fimbriae-overexpressed K. pneumoniae strains have been investigated in an aqueous environment. The results show that the measured adhesion work is positively correlated to biofilm formation; however, the viscoelasticity is not correlated to biofilm formation. This study indicates that AFM-based adhesion measurements of bacteria can be used to evaluate the function of bacterial surface polymers in biofilm formation and to predict the ability of bacterial biofilm formation.
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Multi-Scale Manufacturing Technology, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Chongqing 400714, China.|Key Laboratory of Interfacial Physics and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai 201800, China.
authors.forename: Huabin
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5342-0672
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jonathan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wilksch
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Multi-Scale Manufacturing Technology, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Chongqing 400714, China.
authors.forename: Ligang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jason W H
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Strugnell
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Gee