🔬 Adsorption Constant

Discussion

<p>The phage adsorption constant represents a complicated parameter combining phage diffusion rates, bacterial target size, and phage affinity for bacteria. Increases in any of these wikipedia.org/wiki/Parameter" target="_blank" class="bap-term">parameters will result in increases in the phage adsorption constant. The constant is independent, however, of both phage and bacterial densities, though at very high bacterial densities delays in transitions from reversible to irreversible adsorption may occur more slowly than rates of phage adsorption, potentially resulting in an inability to calculate the latter from adsorption-rate information.

Determinations of adsorption rates and thereby adsorption constants ideally involves kinetic measurements of either phage removal from the free phage state or phage gain of the adsorbed state. The former can be misleading, however, when working with poorly defined systems such that free phage loss can occur for reasons other than phage adsorption. See, for example, adsorption efficiency.

For additional discussion and references, see Abedon (2011), nih.gov/pubmed/19066819" target="_blank" class="bap-term">Kropinski (2010), and Hyman and Abedon (2009).

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