Characterization of the exopolysaccharide produced by Salipiger mucosus A3, a halophilic species belonging to the Alphaproteobacteria, isolated on the Spanish Mediterranean seaboard.
We have studied the exopolysaccharide produced by the type strain of Salipiger mucosus, a species of halophilic, EPS-producing (exopolysaccharide-producing) bacterium belonging to the Alphaproteobacteria. The strain, isolated on the Mediterranean seaboard, produced a polysaccharide, mainly during its exponential growth phase but also to a lesser extent during the stationary phase. Culture parameters influenced bacterial growth and EPS production. Yield was always directly related to the quantity of biomass in the culture. The polymer is a heteropolysaccharide with a molecular mass of 250 kDa and its components are glucose (19.7%, w/w), mannose (34%, w/w), galactose (32.9%, w/w) and fucose (13.4%, w/w). Fucose and fucose-rich oligosaccharides have applications in the fields of medicine and cosmetics. The chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis of fucose-rich polysaccharides offers a new efficient way to process fucose. The exopolysaccharide in question produces a solution of very low viscosity that shows pseudoplastic behavior and emulsifying activity on several hydrophobic substrates. It also has a high capacity for binding cations and incorporating considerable quantities of sulfates, this latter feature being very unusual in bacterial polysaccharides.
Llamas
Inmaculada
I
Microbial Exopolysaccharide Research Group, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cartuja Campus, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
Mata
Juan Antonio
JA
Tallon
Richard
R
Bressollier
Philippe
P
Urdaci
María C
MC
Quesada
Emilia
E
Béjar
Victoria
V
D000818:Animals; D045703:Emulsifying Agents; D004655:Emulsions; D005643:Fucose / Q000032:analysis; D005690:Galactose / Q000032:analysis; D005947:Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D008358:Mannose / Q000032:analysis; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D041902:Rhodobacteraceae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013463:Sulfuric Acid Esters / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D014783:Viscosity
D045703:Emulsifying Agents; D004655:Emulsions; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D013463:Sulfuric Acid Esters; D005643:Fucose; D005947:Glucose; D008358:Mannose; D005690:Galactose