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.
Microbial Exopolysaccharide Research Group, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cartuja Campus, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
Inmaculada
I
Llamas
Juan Antonio
JA
Mata
Richard
R
Tallon
Philippe
P
Bressollier
María C
MC
Urdaci
Emilia
E
Quesada
Victoria
V
Béjar
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