title: [Self-aggregation property of bacterial alginates extracted from aerobic granules].
abstract: To explore bacterial alginates role in aerobic granules' formation, the alginate was extracted from aerobic granules and identified. Its aggregation property in 50 mg x L(-1) CaCl2 solution was investigated by the atomic force microscopy (AFM). Bacterial alginates amounted to 35.1% +/- 1.9% of granules' dry mass. With the concentration increased from 10 mg x L(-1) to 500 mg x L(-1) in 50 mg x L(-1) CaCl2, the extracted alginates tended to form ordered aggregations, with the shape changed from randomly distributed globules, to rod-like and flower-shaped aggregations, and finally to weblike networks due to their supramolecular self-assembly property. The three dimensional alginate-metal gel is the structural polymer of aerobic granules, and the alginates-Ca2+ gel formation plays an important role in granules' formation and structure stabilization.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Science and Engineering College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
authors.forename: Yue-Mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001420:Bacteria, Aerobic / Q000737:chemistry*; D002118:Calcium / Q000737:chemistry; D002627:Chemistry, Physical; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D012722:Sewage; D002118:Calcium