Adhesion of anaerobic microorganisms to solid surfaces and the effect of sequential attachment on adhesion characteristics

The attachment of three anaerobic microorganisms, Desulfomonile tiedjei, Syntrophomonas wolfei, and Desulfovibrio sp. strain G11, was investigated to determine if the presence of one species could influence the adhesion of another species to glass surfaces. The results indicated that the numbers and distribution of attached cells of one species could be influenced considerably by the presence of another species and the order in which the test species were exposed to the surface. D. tiedjei was found to detach readily from surfaces when it was not the primary colonizer. The attachment of Desulfovibrio G11 as the primary colonizer appeared to be stabilized by exposure to another test species. Under certain experimental conditions the test organisms formed close associations with each other on the surfaces. These findings demonstrate that the characteristics of anaerobic community biofilms can be determined by both the adhesion characteristics of the individual species and the interactions among those microorganisms.