Peculiarities of adhesion of epiphytic bacteria on leaves of the seagrass Zostera marina and on abiotic surfaces

A comparative study of the adhesion of epiphytic bacteria and marine free-living, saprophytic, and pathogenic bacteria on seagrass leaves and abiotic surfaces was performed to prove the occurrence of true epiphytes of Zostera marina and to elucidate the bacterium-plant symbiotrophic relationships. It was shown that in the course of adhesion to the seagrass leaves of two taxonomically different bacteria, Cytophaga sp. KMM 3552 and Pseudoalteromonas citrea KMM 461, isolated from the seagrass surface, the number of viable cells increased 3–7-fold after 60 h of incubation, reaching 1.0–2.0 × 10⁵ cells/cm²; however, in the case of adhesion of these bacteria to abiotic surfaces, such as glass or metal, virtually no viable cells were observed after 60 h of incubation. Such selectivity of cell adhesion was not observed in the case of three other bacterial species studied, viz., Vibrio alginolyticus KMM 3551, Bacillus subtilis KMM 430, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa KMM 433. The amount of viable cells of V. alginolyticus KMM 3551 absorbed on glass and metal surfaces increased twofold after 40 h of incubation. The cells of saprophytic B. subtilis KMM 430 and pathogenic P. aeruginosa KMM 433 adsorbed on three studied substrata remained viable for 36 h and died by the 60th hour of incubation.