Aggregation of yeast cells: direct measurement of discrete lectin-carbohydrate interactions.
(2003) Microbiology — Vol. 149, n° Pt 10, p. 2873-2878 (2003)
Files
2003-Touhami-Dufrene-Microbiol.pdf
Restricted Access - Adobe PDF
- 212.9 KB
Details
- Authors
- Abstract
- Aggregation of microbial cells mediated by specific interactions plays a pivotal role in the natural environment, in medicine and in biotechnological processes. Here we used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure individual lectin-carbohydrate interactions involved in the flocculation of yeast cells, an aggregation event of crucial importance in fermentation technology. AFM probes functionalized with oligoglucose carbohydrates were used to record force-distance curves on living yeast cells at a rate of 0.5 micro m s(-1). Flocculating cells showed adhesion forces of 121+/-53 pN, reflecting the specific interaction between individual cell-surface lectins and glucose residues. Similar adhesion forces, 117+/-41 pN, were measured using probes functionalized with the lectin concanavalin A and attributed to specific binding to cell-surface mannose residues. By contrast, specific interaction forces were not observed in non-flocculating conditions, i.e. in the presence of mannose or when using non-flocculating cells, pointing to their involvement in yeast flocculation. The single molecule force spectroscopy measurements presented here provide a means to study a variety of cellular interactions at the molecular level, such as the adhesion of bacteria to animal and plant tissues.
- Affiliations
Citations
Touhami, A., Hoffmann, B., Vasella, A., Denis, F., & Dufrêne, Y. (2003). Aggregation of yeast cells: direct measurement of discrete lectin-carbohydrate interactions. Microbiology, 149(Pt 10), 2873-2878. https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.26431-0 (Original work published 2003)