Comparison of contact angle measurement and microbial adhesion to solvents for assaying electron donor–electron acceptor (acid–base) properties of bacterial surface

The electron donor–electron acceptor (acid–base properties) of cell surfaces of a series of bacteria were determined by two methods, namely, Microbial Adhesion to Solvents (MATS) and Contact Angle Measurements (CAM) combined with equation of Van Oss. The efficiency of these two methods was then compared. Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Bacillus subtilis ILP 142B, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and four Escherichia coli strains including HB101, AL52, O128B12 and ATCC 25922, acid–base properties were examined under the two different conditions mentioned above. The results showed that the correlation between acid–base properties determined by MATS and CAM was very weak. We have also found that when the microbial cell surface was electron donor by CAM method, similar result was found by MATS, but the reverse was not always true. In contrast, a good correlation between the two methods was obtained when the four E. coli strains were examined.