On mechanisms of oral microbial adhesion.

Abstract

Streptococcus cricetus HS-6 grown with or without added manganous ions in their growth medium, i.e. with or without GBLs respectively, show distinct differences in the pH dependence of their zeta potentials and their adhesion to hexadecane confirming that non-specific surface properties can be a corollary of the presence of specific adhesins. It was suggested that at certain pH values, the GBLs are shielded by other cell surface components. The delay in glucan induced aggregation at pH 4 but not at pH 7 and 9 was taken as support for this suggestion. Furthermore, the pH dependence of the glucan induced aggregation of S. cricetus HS-6 is suggested to demonstrate clearly the electrostatic nature of the highly specific interaction between glucans and lectins and therewith provides support for our suggestion that the same fundamental forces are responsible for specific and non-specific interactions