Substratum/bacterial interactions and larval attachment: Films and exopolysaccharides of Halomonas marina (ATCC 25374) and their effect on barnacle cyprid larvae, Balanus amphitrite Darwin

Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the interaction between adhesion of the bacterium Halomonas marina to substrata of different wettabilities, the combination of which has been demonstrated to influence the attachment response of cyprid larvae of the barnacle Balanus amphitrite. Cyprid attachment in the presence of bacterial films was shown to be inhibited when films were on polystyrene but not on tissue-culture polystyrene or glass. Using an enzyme-linked lectin assay, bacteria on polystyrene showed an increase in binding of the lectin concanavalin A compared to bacteria on tissue-culture treated polystyrene, indicating a difference in surface polymers associated with H. marina when attached to different substrata. Although bacterial growth supernatants when adsorbed to polystyrene were inhibitory to barnacle attachment, exopolysaccharides, to which the lectins may be binding, were not inhibitory. The data indicate that adhesion of films of bacteria to polystyrene alters the exopolymer production by H. marina and it is suggested that this change may be involved in the inhibition of cyprid attachment. However, the inhibition of cyprid larvae does not appear to be associated with the exopolysaccharides of the bacterium.

Duke Scholars

Author Daniel Rittschof Marine Science and Conservation