THE EFFECTS OF PHENOTYPE VARIABILITY ON THE ADHESION PROPERTIES OF DELEYA-MARINA

A study has been made of the effects of phenotype variability on the a dhesion properties of the Deleya marina type strain (ATCC 25374) and i ts exopolysaccharide-deficient mutant D. marina R. Like the parental s train, the mutant is nonflagellated, glides on semisolid medium, and s ubsequently exhibits a pnenotype variation from gliding to swimming mo tility. The frequency of the phenotype variation was, however, reduced in the mutant from that observed in the parental strain. Swimming iso lates of mutant and parental strains produced adhesion assay profiles that are qualitatively identical to their nonswimming counterparts. Th e types of substrata colonized as well as the effects of growth temper ature and chemical inhibitors upon attachment reflect the presence or absence of exopolysaccharide. However, under turbulent conditions the presence of flagella increased the adsorption of mutant cells. A hypot hetical model linking the variable phenotypic properties of D. marina to surface colonization is presented.