Quantitative analysis of bacterial adhesion to fish tissue

Adhesion to host tissue represents a first crucial step in most bacterial infections. Both specific adhesion-ligand as well as hydrophobic interactions may be involved. The adhesion of Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida, Lactococcus garvieae, and Yersinia ruckeri strains to fish tissue cells was assessed. To determine whether the observed bacterial adhesion to fish tissue cells was caused by non-specific interactions, adhesion to bovine serum albumin (BSA) and polystyrene was also tested. Our results demonstrated that non-specific adhesion such as hydrophobic interactions are only partially involved in the binding process since adhesion to BSA was low, and there was no correlation between adhesion to polystyrene and adhesion to fish tissue cells.