Bacterial adhesion in oligotrophic habitats.
Oligotrophic and copiotrophic bacteria can act as primary colonizers of surfaces in low nutrient habitats. Adhesion in copiotrophs provides an opportunity to change from a starvation-survival existence in the aqueous phase to an active growth mode at the solid surface. Healthy daughter cells are released from the surface to colonize other surfaces or to resume starvation-survival in the aqueous phase. Non-adhesive copiotrophs scavenge nutrients at surfaces, a fact seldom recognized in studies on the partitioning of bacteria between particulates and the aqueous phase.