Effects of antimetabolites on the adhesion of an estuarine Vibrio sp. to polystyrene.

The effect of various metabolic inhibitors and antibiotics on the adhesion of an estuarine bacterium, Vibrio proteolytica, to polystyrene was investigated. Cells were either exposed to the substratum and the antimetabolite simultaneously or grown in the presence of a 25% MIC and presented the substratum in the absence of the antimetabolite. Based on the response elicited, these inhibitors could be divided into three classes: (i) those that had little or no effect on adhesion (fluorodeoxyuridine and nalidixic acid); (ii) those that only inhibited adhesion after growth at the 25% MIC (ampicillin, oxacillin, and streptomycin); and (iii) those that inhibited attachment when administered simultaneously with the substratum (azide, dinitrophenol, chloramphenicol, puromycin, azauridine, rifampin, p-chloromercuribenzoate, and cephalothin). Cells killed by heating, Formalin, or mercuric chloride treatment were also less adhesive than viable cells. Collectively, these results indicate that (i) physiologically active cells are more adhesive than dead or physiologically impaired cells, (ii) impairment of cell wall synthesis by beta-lactam antibiotics renders cells less adhesive, and (iii) energy production and protein synthesis (including transcription) are both involved in some aspect of the adhesion process, whereas DNA synthesis is not.