%0 Journal Article %A Bar-Ness, Ronit %A Rosenberg, Mel %T Putative Role of a 70 kDa Outer-surface Protein in Promoting Cell-surface Hydrophobicity of Serratia marcescens RZ %D 1989 %J Microbiology, %V 135 %N 8 %P 2277-2281 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-135-8-2277 %I Microbiology Society, %X Serratia marcescens RZ has been previously shown to possess pronounced cell-surface hydrophobicity, as evidenced by its affinity for hydrocarbons and polystyrene. The present report suggests the involvement of a 70 kDa protein, serraphobin, in this phenomenon. The 70 kDa protein was recovered from both the cell surface and culture supernatant of hydrophobic wild-type cells, but was either totally absent or present in minor quantities in hydrophobicity-deficient mutants. Similarly, loss of hydrophobicity of RZ cells following growth at 39.C was accompanied by loss of the protein. Serraphobin was capable of binding to hexadecane droplets following a brief mixing procedure, and could be desorbed by solidifying and melting the hexadecane phase. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-135-8-2277