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Updated: May 18, 2026
In Vitro Assay of Bacterial Adhesion onto Mammalian Epithelial Cells
Published on: May 16, 2011
An assay to screen bacterial adhesion to mucus biomolecules
A Tkachenko1, L Da Silva, J Hearne
1Department of Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD 21853, USA.
Aims:
To develop an assay for rapid screening of bacterial adhesion to various groups of biomolecules present in fish mucus.
Methods And Results:
A novel assay was developed for investigation of bacterial adhesion to various groups of mucus biomolecules from fish. Lipid-, protein-, carbohydrate- and nucleic acid-rich constituents of mucus were separated using isopycnic density gradient centrifugation techniques. Separated mucus fractions were assayed for bacterial adhesion using a blotting apparatus. The assay was validated using Vibrio vulnificus and skin mucus from hybrid tilapia.
Conclusions:
A novel assay was developed for the screening of bacterial adhesion to major groups of mucus biomolecules. Adhesion of V. vulnificus MLT403 positively correlated with lipid- and protein-rich mucus constituents and negatively correlated with carbohydrate-rich mucus constituents.
Significance And Impact Of The Study:
The assay can be used as an initial approach in a systematic identification of mucus constituent(s) exhibiting the most favourable adhesion properties for bacteria.
