Occurrence of Extracellular (1->2)- -D-Glucans and (1->2)- -D-Gluco-oligosaccharides in Acetobacter

Abstract

Summary: Of 11 strains of Acetobacter tested, three strains of A. xylinum (IFO 3288, IFO 13693 and IFO 13772), two strains of A. aceti (IFO 3281 and IFO 3283), one strain of A. pasteurianus (IFO 3223) and one strain of A. rancens (IFO 3297) were found to produce 2–25 mg per 100 ml culture filtrate of a mixture of (1→2)-β-d-glucans and (1→2)-β-d-gluco-oligosaccharides as low-molecular-weight products. The glucans and oligosaccharides were linear without branching structures and their degrees of polymerization (DPs) ranged from 6 to about 42. The compounds with lower DPs did not seem to be produced by hydrolysis of those with higher DPs. A. xylinum IFO 3288 and A. xylinum IFO 13693 also produced extracellular acidic polysaccharides containing l-rhamnose, d-glucose, d-mannose and uronic acid.