Measuring bacterial adhesion at environmental interfaces with single-cell and single-molecule techniques

A synopsis is provided of techniques currently used to quantify the interactions between bacterial cells and surfaces. Focus is placed on techniques which allow for direct probing of nano, pico, or femto-scale interaction forces between bacteria and surfaces of relevance for environmental science and engineering. We focus on bacterial adhesion measurements and surface characterizations via techniques that measure forces on individual bacterial cells or cellular macromolecules, particularly atomic force microscopy (AFM) and related force spectroscopy. However, we also include overviews of other techniques useful for evaluating cellular forces, such as optical tweezers, evanescent wave scattering-based techniques (i.e. total internal reflection microscopy (TIRM) and total internal reflection aqueous fluorescence (TIRAF) microscopy) and the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). These latter techniques, while most are not providing direct measurements of forces of adhesion, can be used to explain adhesion and interaction forces in bacterial systems. We review the operating principles, advantages and limitations of each technique, and key bacterial adhesion studies from each area are presented. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies for relating force measurements to bacterial attachment, particularly to bacterial retention in porous media, are discussed.