title: Production of the polysaccharide curdlan by an Agrobacterium strain grown on a plant biomass hydrolysate.
abstract: Production of the commercially available polysaccharide curdlan by Agrobacterium sp. strain ECP-1, isolated as a mutant strain from ATCC 31749, on a medium containing a hydrolysate of the plant prairie cordgrass with selected ammonium phosphate concentrations was investigated for a period of 144 h. Although several ammonium phosphate concentrations supported curdlan production by the strain, the optimal concentration after 120 or 144 h was 3.3 mmol·L⁻¹. Only ammonium phosphate concentrations of 1.1 or 8.7 mmol·L⁻¹ failed to support curdlan production by the strain after 120 or 144 h. Biomass production by strain ECP-1 on the hydrolysate-containing medium after 120 or 144 h was comparable, independent of the ammonium phosphate concentration present. The curdlan yield from the cordgrass hydrolysate indicated that the grass was an effective plant biomass substrate for polysaccharide production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Microbiology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: Jessica L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Peterson
mesh_terms: D060054:Agrobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D018533:Biomass; D007218:Industrial Microbiology; D006109:Poaceae / Q000378:metabolism; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism*; D047071:beta-Glucans / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D047071:beta-Glucans; C038459:curdlan