[Hydrophobic characteristics of the microorganism cell surface]

Hydrophobic properties of the surface of microorganism cells can be featured by parameters that define the equilibrium of cellular adsorption on liquid carbohydrates: constant of sorption equilibrium, a maximal number of adsorbable cells, as well as coefficient of cellular distribution (Kd) between liquid and organic phases that can be determined either with the equation of adsorption isotherm or experimentally. It is shown that the latter technique gives a more informative characteristics of the hydrophobicity levels in the surface of cells than the percentage of of hydrophobicity cited in literature. The results of this study can be used in the screening of microorganism strains and in the solvation of problems of industrial microbiology related to the fixation of cells on differently structured carriers.