Bioluminescent assay for measurement of bacterial attachment to polyethylene

A bioluminescent method for measuring the number of bacteria attached to synthetic polymers was developed with strains of S. epidermidis and S. aureus. The method was optimized with respect to extraction of bacterial ATP and time of incubation of synthetic polymer with bacterial strains. The attachment to polyethylene was a rapid process and a measurable amount of attached bacteria was obtained within 5 min but a standard assay required 1 h incubation to reach a constant amount of attached cells. Longer incubation did not result in an increase in the number of adhering organisms. At