HYDROPHOBICITY OF THE CELLS OF FAST-GROWING AND SLOW-GROWING BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM A GRASSLAND SOIL

The cell surface tension of 250 strains of bacteria isolated from grassland soil was examined by measuring the contact angle of a liquid droplet on the cell layer. The values of the contact angle of aqueous 0.1M NaCl solution and alpha-bromonaphthalene on the cell layer were used to calculate the polar and non-polar components of surface tension for the isolates. The polar component of the ''slow-growing'' isolates was smaller than that of the ''fast-growing'' isolates. On the other hand, no difference could be observed in the non-polar component between the fast- and slow-growing isolates. These results indicate that slow-growing isolates have more hydrophobic cell surface than fast-growing isolates.