Bacterial adherence to hydrocarbons: a useful technique for studying cell surface hydrophobicity

Bacterial adherence to hydrocarbons (BATH) is a simple and rapid technique for determining cell-surface hydrophobicity. During recent years, this method has found application in the study of the surface characteristics of a wide variety of bacteria and bacterial mixtures. Correlations have been found between the adherence of bacteria to hydrocarbons and their attachment to other surfaces, including non-wettable plastics, epithelial cells, and teeth. A slight modification of the assay enables the isolation of nonhydrophobic mutants. The present publication briefly describes the technique and its modifications, summarizes results obtained using this method, and suggests several directions for further investigation.