Flocculant and chemical properties of a polysaccharide from Pullularia pullulans

Appl Microbiol. 1973 Apr;25(4):628-35. doi: 10.1128/am.25.4.628-635.1973.

Abstract

An extracellular polysaccharide, PP-floc, was synthesized from glucose by Pullularia pullulans (or Aureobasidium pullulans) in a pilot plant batch fermentor containing 175 liters of culture medium. At 58 h of fermentation, the concentration of PP-floc was 1.03 g/100 ml, giving a 25.8% conversion of initial glucose to polysaccharide. The flocculant activity of the culture medium increased during the fermentation process and reached its maximum at 50 h of culture age. Less PP-floc (0.33 lb/ton of slimes [approximately 149.7 g/0.907 t]) was required to give the same flocculant activity as a synthetic polymer of acrylamide, Separan NP-10 (0.5 lb/ton of slimes [approximately 226.8 g/0.907 t]), at all temperatures from 25 to 100 C. The degree of inactivation of PP-floc and Separan NP-10 at elevated temperatures was almost identical, and they were completely inactivated at about the same temperature (80 C). PP-floc also gave better compaction of slimes than Separan NP-10 at all temperatures tested. PP-floc was soluble in water and its specific optical rotation was [alpha](D) (25) + 194 degrees in water (c, 0.4). PP-floc contained 83.3% carbohydrate, 3.2% protein, and 8.1% water. Glucose was found to be the principal sugar monomer with traces (>5%) of galactose and mannose present. Structural studies on the fractions of purified polysaccharide by methylation and by periodate oxidation techniques prove that PP-floc is linear and composed of alpha-(1 --> 4) and alpha-(1 --> 6) glucopyranosyl units in the approximate ratio of 2:1. The action of pullulanase on crude PP-floc suggested the ordered arrangement of two consecutive alpha-(1 --> 4)-linked glucopyranosyl units flanked by alpha-(1 --> 6)-linked glucopyranose residues.

MeSH terms

  • Carbohydrates / analysis
  • Chromatography, Paper
  • Culture Media
  • Fermentation
  • Flocculation
  • Fungal Proteins / analysis
  • Galactose / analysis
  • Glucose / analysis
  • Glucose / metabolism
  • Mannose / analysis
  • Methylation
  • Mitosporic Fungi / analysis*
  • Mitosporic Fungi / growth & development
  • Mitosporic Fungi / metabolism
  • Periodic Acid
  • Polysaccharides / analysis*
  • Polysaccharides / biosynthesis
  • Polysaccharides / isolation & purification
  • Polysaccharides / pharmacology
  • Temperature

Substances

  • Carbohydrates
  • Culture Media
  • Fungal Proteins
  • Polysaccharides
  • Periodic Acid
  • Glucose
  • Mannose
  • Galactose