Authors: K E Eboigbodin J R A Newton A F Routh C A Biggs
Publish Date: 2006/07/20
Volume: 73, Issue: 3, Pages: 669-675
Abstract
The hypothesis tested in this paper is that quorum sensing influences the microbial surface electrokinetic properties Escherichia coli MG1655 and MG1655 LuxS mutant lacking quorumsensing gene for Autoinducer synthase AI2 were used for this study AI2 production or lack of in both strains was analyzed using the Vibrio harveyi bioassay The levels of extracellular AI2 with and without glucose in the growth medium were consistent with previously published work The surface electrokinetic properties were determined for each strain of E coli MG1655 by measuring the electrophoretic mobility using a phase amplitude lightscattering PALS Zeta potential analyser The findings show that the surface charge of the cells is dependent upon the stage in the growth phase as well as the ability to participate in quorum sensing In addition significant differences in the electrophoretic mobility were observed between both strains of E coli These findings suggest that quorum sensing plays a significant role in the surface chemistry of bacteria during their growth
Keywords: