Adhesion and biofilm formation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae on an abiotic surface

We demonstrated that when M. pneumoniae was grown on an abiotic surface of either glass or polystyrene with a serum-containing medium, the bacteria adhered to the surface and formed highly differentiated volcano-like biofilm structures. As adherence to the surface and/or biofilm formation was totally inhibited by anti-P1 polyclonal monospecific antibodies, we suggest that the adherence of M. pneumoniae to the abiotic surface and/or biofilm formation is associated with P1, the major tip organelle protein of this organism. Furthermore, adherence and/or biofilm formation was markedly inhibited by treating the serum component of the growth medium with neuraminidase or by growing the bacteria in the presence of sialyllactose, suggesting that the initial step in the adherence to and/or biofilm formation by M. pneumoniae on an abiotic surface is the interaction of the bacterium through its tip organelle with sialic acid residues of serum glycoproteins.