Bacterial adsorption to smooth surfaces: Rate, extent, and spatial pattern

Abstract
The influence of bulk-water bacterial cell concentration and specific growth rate history on bacterial adsorption rates to surfaces was investigated using response surface analysis. A pure culture of Pseudomonas sp. 224S was grown in a chemostat and pumped into a continuous flow reactor where the bacteria were exposed to clean, glass surfaces under turbulent flow conditions for a period of six hours. Adsorption rate decreased approximately linearly with increasing specific growth rate history. Glass surfaces became saturated with 224S at ca. 0.1% coverage and the resulting spatial pattern of the adsorbed cells deviated from random in the direction of uniformity.