INDUSTRIAL & ENVIRONMENTAL

BIOTECHNOLOGY
Course # KIBGE-707
 

AFSHEEN AMAN, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Industrial Biotechnology Section
Dr. A.Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology & Genetic
Engineering (KIBGE)
University of Karachi
Pakistan

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 BACTERIAL
POLYSACCHARIDES
Course # KIBGE-707
Microorganisms synthesize a wide spectrum of

multifunctional polysaccharides including:

 Intracellular polysaccharides

 Structural polysaccharides

 Extracellular polysaccharides or exopolysaccharides

(EPS)

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Polymers may be:

 Assembled as capsular (CPS) polysaccharides

that are tightly associated with the cell surface

 Extracellular polysaccharides are produced by a

great variety of bacteria & are liberated into the
growth medium called as exopolysaccharide(EPS)
may be used to describe either type of
extracellular polysaccharide

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• Many bacterial exopolysaccharide products offer
a range of attractive improvements over
synthetically produced materials.

• But process remain relatively expensive to

produce because of the costs associated with
recovery and purification of a desired product.

• Bacterial EPS can be composed of one type of

sugar monomer(homopolysaccharide) or consist
of several types of monomers
(heteropolysaccharide).

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 Specific conditions that allow for higher fermentation
yields of exopolysaccharides also result in increased
broth viscosity & thickening

 Ultimately requires higher energy input to effectively

disperse oxygen and nutrients to allow sufficient
bacterial growth in the fermentation broth.

 Results in correspondingly higher production costs.

 Bacterial exopolysaccharides are useful
compounds as gelling or viscosity increasing
agents because of their distinctive rheological
properties:

 Resistance to shear
 Compatibility with various ionic compounds
 Stability to extreme temperatures, pH and salt
concentrations

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 A variety of bacteria produce exopolysaccharides
particularly useful as thickening or gelling agents.

 There is an increasing demand for inexpensive and

environmentally acceptable gelling agents for
industrial applications and for the food industry.

Some industrial applications of gelling agents include:

Oil field drilling
Adhesives
Paints
Animal feed
 Household products
Personal care products (shampoo, lotion)
Oral care products (toothpaste)
Pharmaceuticals

Some exemplary uses of gelling agents in the food

industry include:
Pudding
Dairy products
Pie filling
Dressings
Confectionery
Sauces
Syrups
Commercially important biopolymers

Xanthan
Alginate
Dextran
 XANTHAN
 It was discovered by an extensive research effort
by Allene Rosalind Jeanes and her research team
at the United States Department of Agriculture
 Screen a large number of biopolymers for their

potential uses.
 brought into commercial production by the Kelco

Company under the trade name Kelzan in the early

1960s.
 It was approved for use in foods after extensive

animal testing for toxicity in 1968. It is accepted as

a safe food additive in the USA, Canada, Europe,
and many other countries, with E number E415.
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 Plant-pathogenic bacteria of the genus
Xanthomonas campestris are able to produce the
acidic exopolysaccharide xanthan gum.

 Because of its physical properties, it is widely

used as a viscosifer, thickener, emulsifier or
stabilizer in both food and non-food industries.

 Glucose as substrate for synthesis of the sugar

nucleotides precursors UDP-glucose, UDP-
glucuronate, and GDP-mannose that are required
for building the pentasaccharide repeat unit.

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 In foods, xanthan gum is most often found in salad
dressings and sauces.
 Used in frozen foods and beverages, helps create the
pleasant texture in many ice creams, along with guar
gum and locust bean gum.
 Toothpaste often contains xanthan gum, where it
serves as a binder to keep the product uniform.
 Xanthan gum is also used in gluten-free baking.
 It is also a preferred method of thickening liquids for
those with swallowing disorders, since it does not
change the color or flavor of foods or beverages.
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 ALGINATE
 Alginate is the main representative of a family of
polysaccharides that neither show branching nor
repeating blocks or unit patterns.
 This property distinguishes it from other polymers like
xanthan or dextran.
 Consist of two different components, β-D-mannuronic
acid and α-L-guluronic acid.
 Besides its production by brown algae, it is only
produced by the two bacterial genera Pseudomonas and
Azotobacter.
 Bacterial alginates are more and more considered for the
production of micro- or nanostructures suitable for
medical applications.
 DEXTRAN
 Dextran is a highly value added polysaccharide
obtained by fermentation of sucrose by
Lactobacillus strain specifically Leuconostoc
mesenteroides.

 Dextran is a high molecular mass polymer (107 to

108 Da) and composed of a linear chain of glucosyl
residues all linked through α (1→6) glucosidic bond

 α (1→2), α (1→3), or α (1→4) branched linkages.

 Dextran has found applications in various
pharmaceutical, foods, cosmetic, agricultural and
photographic industries and as well as in mining.

 Specified standard molecular weight fractions of

dextran are used in medicine, flocculation,
stabilization, lypholization, freeze-drying,
protective colloids in blood-expanders, and in
cosmetic ingredients formulation.

 Crossed linked dextrans are widely used in

research and industries for separation of various
products.
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 High molecular weight dextran can be used for
secondary petroleum recovery, oil drilling mud,
stabilization of soil aggregates and protective
coating for seeds.

 Low molecular weight dextran is used in the

pharmaceutical industry as blood plasma extender,
blood flow improver and raw material for medicine
as iron-dextran (used in treatments of anaemia in
humans and animals) and dextran sulphate (used
as anticoagulant).

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