Adsorption of bacterial surface polysaccharides on mineral oxides is mediated by hydrogen bonds

Adhesion of bacterial cells to solid surfaces is often largely affected by bacterial surface polymers. In this study, we investigated the adsorption of three different O-antigens isolated from bacterial lipopolysaccharides on TiO₂, Al₂O₃, and SiO₂. The O-antigens of Escherichia coli 08 DSM 46243 and Citrobacter freundii PCM 1487 had high affinity for TiO₂ and low affinity for Al₂O₃, whereas the O-antigens of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia 70401 had low affinities for both surfaces. Adsorption on SiO₂ was low for all polysaccharides. The dependence of the adsorption on the molecular mass of polysaccharides was investigated with dextrans of various chain lengths. The affinity increased with the molecular mass. The affinity of the dextrans was reduced compared with the O-antigen of E. coli, which had similar chemical composition and molecular mass. The adsorption of the E. coli and C. freundii O-antigens on Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ was irreversible, whereas for the S. maltophilia O-antigen it was partially reversible. The reversibility of dextran adsorption decreased with increasing molecular mass.

Infrared spectroscopy showed that all bacterial O-antigens and the dextrans formed hydrogen bonds with surface hydroxyl groups or interacted with surface-bound water of TiO₂, Al₂O₃, and SiO₂. A concentration-dependent mechanism of adsorption was observed with TiO₂. At low polysaccharide concentrations, the surface water molecules ware replaced by the polysaccharides, and at increased concentration the surface hydroxyl groups were involved in the formation of hydrogen bonds. At higher surface coverages, the adsorbed polysaccharides formed loops between the few adsorbed units.