ATTACHMENT OF VIBRIO-ALGINOLYTICUS TO GLASS SURFACES IS DEPENDENT ON SWIMMING SPEED

The attachment of Vibrio alginolyticus to glass surfaces was investiga ted with special reference to the swimming speed due to the polar flag ellum, This bacterium has two types of flagella, i.e., one polar flage llum and numerous lateral flagella, The mutant YM4, which possesses on ly the polar flagellum, showed much faster attachment than the mutant YM18, which does not possess flagella, indicating that the polar flage llum plays an important role. The attachment of YM4 was dependent on N a+ concentration and,vas specifically inhibited by amiloride, an inhib itor of polar flagellum rotation, These results are quite similar to t hose for swimming speed obtained under the same conditions, Observatio ns with other mutants showed that chemotaxis is not critical and that the flagellum does not act as an appendage for attachment, From these results, it is concluded that the attachment of V. alginolyticus to gl ass surfaces is dependent on swimming speed.