Analysis of the relationship between bacterial adherence and extracellular production of mannose, galactose, glucose and ribose in Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus hominis.

Gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to analyze the extracellular extracts of 108 coagulase-negative staphylococcal strains for the presence of mannose, galactose, glucose and ribose, in order to determine whether production of these four monosaccharides, regarded as potential staphylococcal slime components, was associated with the adherence capacity of the individuals strains. A total of 90 Staphylococcus epidermidis and 18 Staphylococcus hominis strains were studied. Using the quantitative spectrophotometric assay, 21 Staphylococcus epidermidis strains were classified as strongly adherent, 12 as moderately adherent, 11 as weakly adherent, and 46 as nonadherent. All 18 Staphylococcus hominis strains were nonadherent. Mannose, galactose, glucose and ribose were detected as the main monosaccharide components in the extracellular extracts of all strains examined. Moreover, the mean relative concentrations of these monosaccharides were essentially the same for the different adherence phenotypes within the species Staphylococcus epidermidis. These results showed that there was no causal connection between the adherence of coagulase-negative staphylococci and the extracellular production of any of the four monosaccharides analyzed.