AVS 50th International Symposium
    Biomaterial Interfaces Monday Sessions
       Session BI-MoA

Paper BI-MoA10
The Role of Polysaccharides in Bacterial Adsorption: A Chemical Perspective

Monday, November 3, 2003, 5:00 pm, Room 307

Session: Non-fouling Surfaces and Biolubrication
Presenter: K.T. Queeney, Smith College
Authors: K.T. Queeney, Smith College
J.W. Clemens, Smith College
C. Royce, Smith College
Correspondent: Click to Email
While it is well known that extracellular polysaccharides influence the adhesion properties of a range of encapsulated bacteria, studies of the adsorption properties of these polysaccharides have been largely limited to investigations of their conformational and/or mechanical properties.@footnote 1@ Xanthan, a model bacterial polysaccharide, has been well studied in the solution phase and therefore provides a useful starting point for understanding, at a molecular level, what influences the adsorption properties of these large and complex molecules. We have used surface infrared spectroscopy to investigate the adsorption of xanthan on a variety of surfaces that exhibit both varying hydrophobicity and a range of chemical terminations. While a previous study of polysaccharide adsorption on oxide surfaces focused only on hydrogen-bonding behavior as evidenced by the OH-stretching region,@footnote 2@ we find that the carbonyl stretching region shows marked changes in the local chemical environment of these moieties, suggesting that they interact strongly with the surface. Furthermore, xanthan's similar affinity for hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces provides evidence that polysaccharide/surface interactions must include non-hydrogen bonding effects. @FootnoteText@ @footnote 1@See for example T. A. Camesano and K. J. Wilkinson, Biomacromolecules 2, 2001, 1184-1191.@footnote 2@B. A. Jucker, H. Harms, S. J. Hug and A. J. B. Zehnder, Coll. Surf. B 9, 1997, 331-343.